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crummy

1
[ kruhm-ee ]
/ ˈkrʌm i /
|
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adjective, crum·mi·er, crum·mi·est.

Also crumby. Slang.
  1. dirty and run-down; shabby; seedy: a crummy fleabag of a hotel.
  2. of little or no value; cheap; worthless: crummy furniture that falls apart after a month of use.
  3. wretchedly inadequate; miserable; lousy: They pay crummy salaries.

noun, plural crum·mies.

Railroads Slang. a caboose.

RELATED WORDS

second-rate, miserable, rotten, shabby, cheap, contemptible, crappy, inferior, pathetic, poor, useless, worthless, grotty, third-rate

Nearby words

crumbum, crumby, crumhorn, crummie, crummock water, crummy, crump, crumpet, crumple, crumple zones, crumpled

Origin of crummy

1
1855–60; perhaps obsolete crum crooked (see crummie) + -y1; sense “caboose” of unclear derivation and perhaps a distinct word
Related formscrum·mi·ly, adverbcrum·mi·ness, noun

Definition for crummy (2 of 3)

crummy

2
[ kruhm-ee, kroo m-ee ]
/ ˈkrʌm i, ˈkrʊm i /

noun, plural crum·mies. Chiefly Scot.

crummie.

Definition for crummy (3 of 3)

crummie

or crum·my

[ kruhm-ee, kroo m-ee ]
/ ˈkrʌm i, ˈkrʊm i /

noun Chiefly Scot.

a cow with crooked horns.

Origin of crummie

1715–25; obsolete crum crooked (Old English crumb; cognate with German krumm) + -ie
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for crummy

British Dictionary definitions for crummy (1 of 2)

crummy

1
/ (ˈkrʌmɪ) /

adjective -mier or -miest slang

of little value; inferior; contemptible
unwell or depressedto feel crummy

Word Origin for crummy

C19: variant spelling of crumby

British Dictionary definitions for crummy (2 of 2)

crummy

2
/ (ˈkrʌmɪ) /

noun plural -mies

Canadian a lorry that carries loggers to work from their camp

Word Origin for crummy

probably originally meaning: makeshift camp, from crummy 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crummy

crummy

adj.

1560s, "easily crumbled;" 1570s, "like bread," from crumb + -y (2). The second sense probably accounts for 18c. (and later in dialects) use, of a woman, "attractively plump, full-figured, buxom." Slang meaning "shoddy, filthy, inferior, poorly made" in use by 1859, probably is from the first sense, but influenced by crumb in its slang sense of "louse."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper