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Synonyms

in the gutter

Idioms  

  1. Appropriate to or from a squalid, degraded condition. For example, The language in that book belongs in the gutter. An antonym, out of the gutter, means “away from vulgarity or sordidness,” as in That joke was quite innocent; get your mind out of the gutter. This idiom uses gutter in the sense of “a conduit for filthy waste.” [Mid-1800s]

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.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars,” wrote Oscar Wilde.

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

He made a big wager on natural gas when prices were in the gutter, and he has funded Comstock’s exploration at a time when its rivals are sticking with Wall Street’s strict capital edicts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

His songs blended the scabrous and the sentimental, ranging from carousing anthems to snapshots of life in the gutter to unexpectedly tender love songs.

From Washington Times • Nov. 30, 2023

But in salute to my colleagues in Ukraine, let me conclude with a quote from Oscar Wilde: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

From Salon • Oct. 9, 2022

All week Francie walked home slowly from school with her eyes in the gutter looking for tin foil from cigarette packages or chewing gum wrappers.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

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.