grunge

[ gruhnj ]

noun

, Slang.

1. dirt; filth; rubbish.
2. something of inferior quality; trash:

   He didn't know good music from grunge.

3. a person who works hard, usually for meager rewards; grind.
4. a style or fashion derived from a movement in rock music: in fashion characterized by unkempt clothing and in music by aggressive, nihilistic songs.

grunge

/ ɡrʌndʒ /

noun

1. slang.
   dirt or rubbish
2. a style of rock music originating in the US in the late 1980s, featuring a distorted guitar sound
3. a deliberately untidy and uncoordinated fashion style

Word History and Origins

Origin of grunge¹

1960–65; expressive coinage, perhaps reflecting grime and sludge; sense “grind” perhaps by association with drudge

Word History and Origins

Origin of grunge¹

C20: possibly a coinage imitating grime + sludge

Example Sentences

Depending on how you style it, there can be a grunge influence or a pop-punk influence.

From The Daily Beast

It was an era, the film contends, that was rampant with anger and sexist objectification, having already replaced the progressive spirit of the early-’90s Grunge moment with a general neanderthal crudeness.

From The Daily Beast

You take all of that and you then move it into Seattle in the ’90s, which was just before the grunge explosion hits.

From Ozy

If you’re getting the grunge out of your grout or removing it from the narrow space around faucets, you’ll want a small brush specifically designed for tile and grout cleaning.

From Popular-Science

Grunge makes sense if you're a sad, self-righteous teenager.

From The Daily Beast

Seriously—go raid your dusty CaseLogic archives and listen to a bunch of early, non-Nirvana grunge CDs sometime.

From The Daily Beast

It is a gray, almost grunge-like wedding dress by the designer Gareth Pugh, which he made for his friend Katie Shillingford.

From The Daily Beast

The fascinating tragedy of Flappy Bird might go down in history as a defining “grunge moment” for videogames.

From The Daily Beast

Before Dookie, guitar rock meant grunge: heavy, monotonic, humorless, and bleak.

From The Daily Beast

I paid Grunge the grocer nineteen dollars on't; for he knows I'm an honest man, and trusted me.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• filth
• grease
• grime
• soil
• stain