grimy

American  

[grahy-mee] / ˈgraɪ mi /

adjective

• grimier,
  comparative
• grimiest
  superlative

1. 

   covered with grime; dirty.

   I shook his grimy hand.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• griminess
  noun
• grimily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• grimier
  comparative
• grimiest
  superlative

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Etymology

Origin of grimy

First recorded in 1605–15; grime + -y ¹

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Explanation

Grimy things are so dirty that it takes some scrubbing to clean them. You'll probably feel pretty grimy after a day spent trying to fix the engine of an old car. When something is grimy, the dirt is ingrained or set in, not just on the surface. Jobs that leave you covered in oil, tar, or dirt are grimy. If you wear gloves to transplant your grandma's flowers, you won't end up with grimy fingernails. The adjective grimy comes from grime, "ingrained dirt," which goes back to a root that means "to smear."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grimy grimier grimiest

But those most affected are residents at the epicentre, including in Kalimantan's Palangkaraya where skies turned deep orange on Wednesday night and remained a grimy yellow on Thursday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Much about the grimy parts of Burning Man is left unmentioned, leaving it up to Redditors to gripe about sanitation pile-ups departing Burners leave in nearby towns.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

A plainspoken veteran with a dense beard and a closet full of grimy sweatshirts, Platner fit the bill.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

So, too, is the film’s music, composer Anthony Willis and soundtrack artist Charlie XCX entwining raspy strings with grimy, ominous shudders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026

The view from the grimy railcar window was most discouraging.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

More than a decade after scam rap emerged from the buzzier, grimier corners of Detroit hip-hop, a scammer anthem from a South Floridian is arguably the song of the summer.

From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026

Though not exactly nostalgic for grimier times, she eventually finds she’s become an old-timer, no longer delighted by change.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2022

The “Cinema Novo” movement of social realism commented and pushed back against this political shift, but in that same year, a singular iconoclast mounted a grimier, bloodier form of rebellion newly relevant to our present.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 30, 2020

Point guard John Wall wanted the Wizards to become grittier, grimier and dirtier, to resurrect the aggressive nature they had assumed in the recent past.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2015

It’s grimier than when I clean my usual spot at lunch.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

Deep-cleaning crews have visited many of the grimiest concrete subterranean stations — in some cases, for the first time in years.

From New York Times ● Jun. 25, 2017

“The difference in the game was we were playing basketball, and they were playing MMA,” Millsap said, frustrated after one of the grimiest 114-107 games you ever will witness.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2017

And it’s hands down, to quote Beyoncé, the grimiest song I’ve heard all year.

From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2014

Young Jon, however, insisted on driving around in a beat-up van and eating in the grimiest diners possible.

From Time ● May 12, 2011

Every inch of grass was covered with tents—row after crooked row of the grimiest, droopiest tents Nate had ever seen.

From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

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Related Words

• dingy
• filthy
• grubby
• grungy
• messy
• soiled
• squalid

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