grubby
1 Americannoun
plural
grubbiesadjective
-
dirty; slovenly
-
mean; beggarly
-
infested with grubs
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of grubby1
First recorded in 1605–15; grub + -y 1
Origin of grubby2
Origin uncertain
Explanation
Grubby things are really dirty, like your little sister's grubby hands after she's spent an afternoon making mud pies. Have you ever seen a little kid eat a chocolate ice cream cone on a hot day? Picture the kid's face covered in chocolate and you'll have a good idea of what grubby means! This adjective dates back to the mid-19th century, from grub, which means "insect larva" and which was once colloquially used to mean "dirty child."
Vocabulary lists containing grubby
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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The Magician's Nephew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Grubby Gen Xers were designated the OG slackers, which did not bode well for becoming the bosses of the future.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 2022
Technically, Grubby is not a Teddy Ruxpin knockoff—he was a Teddy Ruxpin accessory.
From Slate • Apr. 9, 2019
Grubby satchels, helmets, rusty knives and chunky radios are strewn around Dinh Van Loc's front room, transforming his house in Vietnam's capital into an abandoned battlefield.
From Reuters • Mar. 27, 2015
Grubby white walls, a basic table and chairs, a single poster of the Manhattan skyline.
From The Guardian • Aug. 10, 2012
He is Grubby the Gopher, a member of the same order the rest of you belong to, but of a family quite his own.
From The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
