sleaze

American  

[sleez] / sliz /

noun

Slang.

1. a contemptible or vulgar person.

2. a shabby or slovenly person.

3. a sleazy quality, character, or atmosphere; shoddiness; vulgarity.

4. sleazy behavior, content, appearance, or the like.

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sleaze British  

/ sliːz /

noun

1. sleaziness

2. dishonest, disreputable, or immoral behaviour, especially of public officials or employees

   political sleaze

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Etymology

Origin of sleaze

First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from sleazy

Example Sentences

I don’t necessarily agree with our hero’s opinion that new sleaze rock is what Mozart would be playing if he were alive today.

From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025

A largely forgotten chapter of the Watergate scandal connected two fixtures of American life: milk and political sleaze.

From Slate • Dec. 5, 2025

While intended to capture the sun-soaked sleaze of a B-movie noir, “Honey Don’t!” is a perplexingly plotted whodunit that delivers the “who” but none of the “why.”

From Salon • Aug. 23, 2025

“The exhibition tracks the pursuit of glamour and sleaze that I was looking for on Hollywood Boulevard, and eventually, improbably, ending up in a Paris museum,” Owens writes in the show notes.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2025

I always knew ReelTok was sleazy, but this is a whole new level of sleaze.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

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