adjective
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showing the least pleasant aspect; sordid
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(esp of the inner side of a garment) showing many seams
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of seamy
1595–1605; seam + -y 1; in transferred senses alluding to the unpresentable appearance of the inside of a garment, i.e., where the seams show
Explanation
Things that are seamy have lost all morality. Your mother wouldn't approve of you going to a seamy video arcade, especially not if you went with a group of seamy people. The seamy people at that video arcade could also be called "sleazy" or “a bad crowd.” A house that’s falling down could also be seamy, and so is the bar on the corner where not even your uncle will go. If you find yourself in a seamy situation, the best thing to do is get out before you find yourself turning seamy, corrupted by the seamy folk lurking about.
Vocabulary lists containing seamy
Othello
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
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The Big Short
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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.
Seamy and dark With despair and disaster, Turn it--and lo, The design of the Master.
From Quiet Talks about Jesus by Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
I read two books by Mr Christie Murray, "Joseph's Coat" and "Rainbow Gold," and one by Messrs Besant and Rice,—"The Seamy Side."
From Confessions of a Young Man by Moore, George (George Augustus)
I read two books by Mr. Christie Murray, "Joseph's Coat" and "Rainbow Gold," and one by Messrs. Besant and Rice,—"The Seamy Side."
From Confessions of a Young Man by Moore, George (George Augustus)
The brilliant series of novels that followed includes 'Ready-Money Morti-boy,' 'My Little Girl,' 'With Harp and Crown,' 'The Golden Butterfly,' 'The Seamy Side,' and 'The Chaplain of the Fleet.'
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 4 by Mabie, Hamilton Wright
The Brotherhood of Consolation is also known by the title The Seamy Side of History and is referred to by that title in other Addendums.
From The Brotherhood of Consolation by Wormeley, Katharine Prescott
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.
