sleazy

[slee-zee, sley-zee]

adjective

sleazier, sleaziest 

1. contemptibly low, mean, or disreputable.

   sleazy politics.

2. squalid; sordid; filthy; dilapidated.

   a sleazy hotel.

3. thin or poor in texture, as a fabric; cheap; flimsy.

   a sleazy dress;

   a sleazy excuse.

sleazy

/ ˈsliːzɪ /

adjective

1. sordid; disreputable

   a sleazy nightclub

2. thin or flimsy, as cloth

Other Word Forms

• sleazily adverb
• sleaziness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleazy¹

First recorded in 1635–45 sleazy for def. 3; of obscure origin; probably unrelated to Silesia; first recorded in 1941 sleazy for defs. 1, 2; perhaps a distinct word

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleazy¹

C17: origin uncertain

Example Sentences

It was once the job of “sleazy” tabloids to destroy lives with lurid gossip that titillated the public but lacked public interest in the high-minded sense.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“There might be some hangover from that. For someone who thinks his behavior was sleazy, they might not consider it a big deal because he calmed them during the pandemic.”

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His screen persona has often been the sleaziest of weasels, the connoisseur’s moral degenerate.

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David Ball of Soft Cell, whose delectably sleazy synth-pop arrangement drove that English duo’s 1981 hit “Tainted Love” to the top of the U.K. singles chart, died Wednesday.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, it would only be another two decades before a new cadre of rock writers, hungry for their own version of sleazy, glamorous rock privilege, manifested the Strokes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• seedy 
• sordid 
• tacky 
• trashy