slapdash
Americanadverb
adjective
adverb
adjective
noun
-
slapdash activity or work
-
another name for roughcast
Etymology
Origin of slapdash
Explanation
If you just slapped something together and then dashed when you were done, it was slapdash. The paint job was slapdash: it looked like they did it in an hour, without brushes. The meaning of the word slapdash is clear from its two parts, slap and dash. If you make something in a slapdash way, you slap it together and then dash away — probably so no one would notice. If you want something to look great and last for a long time, then take your time and do it right. If you do it in a slapdash way, you may save time in the short run. But in the long run, you'll lose much more time redoing your shoddy work.
Vocabulary lists containing slapdash
Idioms and Expressions, List 4
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Loser
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Idioms and Expressions, List 4
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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.
The movie can sometimes feel purposefully sloppy but somehow it’s never slapdash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Brook's misdemeanour occurred before England touched ground in Australia, but it typified the slapdash approach to regaining the urn.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
The composition of these black-and-white street photographs seems slapdash, but the images work brilliantly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
The slapdash apology videos made Deen into a joke, one she tried to get in front of during that “Today Show” appearance, only to make matters worse.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2025
They interpreted their slapdash working conditions, created by chronic underfunding by the AEC, as an ominous sign that the agency’s commitment to Livermore remained conditional.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
