grubby

[ gruhb-ee ]

/ ˈgrʌb i /

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See synonyms for: grubby / grubbiness on Thesaurus.com

adjective, grub·bi·er, grub·bi·est.

dirty; slovenly: children with grubby faces and sad eyes.

infested with or affected by grubs or larvae.

contemptible: grubby political tricks.

OTHER WORDS FOR grubby

1 grimy, unkempt, messy, filthy, bedraggled.

See synonyms for grubby on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of grubby

First recorded in 1605–15; grub + -y¹

OTHER WORDS FROM grubby

grub·bi·ly, adverbgrub·bi·ness, noun

Words nearby grubby

Grozny, GRU, grub, grub beam, grubber, grubby, grub hoe, grub saw, grub screw, grubstake, grubstreet

Other definitions for grubby (2 of 2)

grubby²

[ gruhb-ee ]

/ ˈgrʌb i /

noun, plural grub·bies.

a small sculpin, Myxocephalus aenaeus, inhabiting waters off the coast of New England.

Origin of grubby

Origin uncertain

How to use grubby in a sentence

For one, it’s easier to see dust and smudges on a dark surface, so you’ll be able to target those grubby fingerprints with surgical precision.
How to clean a TV screen|John Kennedy|February 15, 2022|Popular-Science
Tape and grips start out all sparkly clean but get grubby pretty quick.
How to Clean Your Cycling Gear|agintzler|July 17, 2021|Outside Online
There were many volumes about precocious British tots with “nannies and pony carts,” she said, but none that would appeal to “grubby neighborhood kids” like the boy before her — or to the adventure-seeking girl she had once been.
Beverly Cleary, beloved author who chronicled schoolyard scrapes and feisty kids, dies at 104|Harrison Smith, Becky Krystal|March 26, 2021|Washington Post
From the outside, VertiVegies looked like a handful of grubby shipping containers put side by side and drilled together.
Inside Singapore’s huge bet on vertical farming|Katie McLean|October 13, 2020|MIT Technology Review

But Paltrow and Lively insist on deep meaning besides the grubby business of trade.
Blake Lively Gets Her GOOP On|Tim Teeman|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Perfume bottles and weathered papyrus replicas gather dust in the grubby window displays of the empty shops.
Egyptian Tomb-Robbing Market Explodes on eBay|Bel Trew|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Most of all, how could anyone film—or inflict upon viewers—such gratuitous, relentlessly grubby sexual content?
Why ‘Girls’ Is Bad for Women|Emma Woolf|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His friend to the north, Paul Kagame, is another authoritarian with grubby hands, feted nonetheless.
Liberian Nostalgia for War Criminal Charles Taylor|Finlay Young|April 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Before the envelope containing salacious details makes it into the grubby hands of the media, tell everything.
Weiner Should’ve Taken the Letterman Approach|Tricia Romano|June 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The cleaner-by-the-day will do the grubby things and I shall like it.
Jane Journeys On|Ruth Comfort Mitchell
(p. 107) It was a grubby farm with not much water, but we made the best of it, and settled down for the night.
The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade|Edward Lord Gleichen
Open the bag, and turn the contents out in the lap of the dark-colored robe, grubby hands poking.
The Jewels of Aptor|Samuel R. Delany
Cross the Rockies to Vancouver, and you're back among dirty walls, grubby furniture, and inadequate literature again.
Letters from America|Rupert Brooke
It was some grubby affair that made me thank God for the sunlight.
Twelve Stories and a Dream|H. G. Wells

British Dictionary definitions for grubby

grubby

/ (ˈɡrʌbɪ) /

adjective -bier or -biest

dirty; slovenly

mean; beggarly

infested with grubs

Derived forms of grubby

grubbily, adverbgrubbiness, noun

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

grubby

OTHER WORDS FOR grubby

Origin of grubby

OTHER WORDS FROM grubby

Words nearby grubby

Other definitions for grubby (2 of 2)

Origin of grubby

Words related to grubby

How to use grubby in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for grubby

Derived forms of grubby