seedy
Americanadjective
-
seedier,
comparative
-
seediest
superlative
adjective
-
shabby or unseemly in appearance
seedy clothes
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(of a plant) at the stage of producing seeds
-
informal not physically fit; sickly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of seedy
Explanation
When a place is seedy, it's sleazy, run-down — not the kind of place you'd take your mom. The East Village of New York was once known for being seedy, but now it's safe for children of all ages. It's a mystery how the word seedy came to mean darkly rundown, slummy, and seamy, but it probably came from the appearance of flowers after they've shed their seeds. That's when they start to lose their color and eventually die. You'll find seedy used to describe places like dive bars, brothels, and those sections of town where dealers ply their drugs. Certain writers, such as Dennis Cooper and even Charles Dickens, are fascinated by the seedy underbelly of life in big cities, in scenes populated by wretched people and other outcasts.
Vocabulary lists containing seedy
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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This Week In Culture: January 11–17, 2020
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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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.
See Examples For:
This does not mean that companies doing seedy, speculative things won’t be included in the S&P 500.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Capp notes, "Even in London's seedy underworld, a hat felt essential."
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
After spending several months in two seedy rentals, the McIntires pulled the trigger on a longtime fantasy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
He drank tall glasses of orange juice in seedy dives as he infiltrated an underworld of bank-robbing clowns and bird-obsessed mobsters.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
There were two photos of me, one of Heather, the Mosses’ mug shots, and a view of their seedy trailer.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Novelists have always been entranced with the seedier side of show business, from Michael Tolkin’s classic “The Player” to Theodore Roszak’s paranoiac “Flicker” to Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s devilish “Silver Nitrate.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
Stephanie Foggett is focused on the darker, seedier parts of that ecosystem.
From Slate ● Aug. 9, 2022
Instead it combines unannotated old footage from the Chelsea’s seedier days with new vignettes, following longtime residents unsure if they’ll get to stay when the upgrades are finally finished.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
My first instinct was to make a savory granola, which was … nice, but I realized that I was looking for a nuttier, seedier — dare I say it — crunchier result.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2022
Tonight’s visitor seemed seedier than most, however, and behaved oddly.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
His clientele has flipped upside down, from some of the most refined people in the New York area to some of the seediest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
A newbie may have to endure performing at the seediest of clubs before moving on to bigger and better opportunities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
He is now, he informs us, a successful Los Angeles publicity agent, but in the ’80s he was an entrepreneurial minnow in Times Square at its seediest.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
Even if you’re trying to avoid any sort of retail establishment that might be hawking Christmas wares this season, you’re still likely to hear this song in the seediest of bodegas.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2018
You're about the seediest, hungriest-looking fellow I ever saw....
From Desert Gold by Zane Grey
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.
