seedy

[see-dee]

adjective

seedier, seediest 

1. abounding in seed.

2. containing many seeds, as a piece of fruit.

3. gone to seed; bearing seeds.

4. poorly kept; run-down; shabby.

5. shabbily dressed; unkempt.

   a seedy old tramp.

6. physically run-down; under the weather.

   He felt a bit seedy after his operation.

7. somewhat disreputable; degraded.

   a seedy hotel.

seedy

/ ˈsiːdɪ /

adjective

1. shabby or unseemly in appearance

   seedy clothes

2. (of a plant) at the stage of producing seeds

3. informal,  not physically fit; sickly

Other Word Forms

• seedily adverb
• seediness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of seedy¹

First recorded in 1565–75; seed + -y ¹

Example Sentences

Instead, it’s time to look at how male loneliness has been monetized by all manner of seedy actors who have every incentive to discourage men from making changes to improve their lives.

Read more on Salon

He checked into a seedy Manhattan hotel under yet another false name.

Read more on Literature

The rest tackle the seedy underbelly of fame.

Read more on BBC

In The Modern World tackles the disillusionment of getting to Hollywood and discovering its seedy underbelly.

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But when his latest exposé for a local publication calls into question a prominent Tulsa family, his investigation takes him on a dangerous road from the city’s seedy underbelly to its highest corridors of power.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• crummy 
• decaying www.thesaurus.com
• decrepit 
• dingy 
• grubby 
• scruffy 
• shabby 
• sleazy 
• squalid 
• tacky