sleazy

[slee-zee, sley-zee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sleazy ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, slea·zi·er, slea·zi·est.

contemptibly low, mean, or disreputable: sleazy politics.

squalid; sordid; filthy; dilapidated: a sleazy hotel.

thin or poor in texture, as a fabric; cheap; flimsy: a sleazy dress; a sleazy excuse.

Origin of sleazy

1635–45; (def 3) of obscure origin (probably unrelated to Silesia other than by folk etymology); sense of defs 1, 2 (first attested 1941) perhaps represent a distinct word

Related formsslea·zi·ly, adverbslea·zi·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sleazy

seedy, trashy, sordid, tacky, base, broken-down, cheap, common, dilapidated, flimsy, limp, low, mean, paltry, poor, run-down, shabby, shoddy, squalid, unsubstantial

Examples from the Web for sleazy

Contemporary Examples of sleazy

Or as Joey, the sleazy, besieged used car salesman in Cadillac Man.
Robin Williams, Hollywood’s Grand Jester, Is Dead at 63
Marlow Stern
August 12, 2014
And that is this sleazy rabbit hole in its most perfect summation.
The B Is Back: The Benghazi Hearings Are Bullsh*t
Michael Tomasky
May 7, 2014
How can she wax poetically about soiling herself at parties and not get branded as sleazy trash, a la Ke$ha?
How Jennifer Lawrence Took Over Hollywood. (It’s Not Just Because of Her Charm.)
Kevin Fallon
December 20, 2013
When the ship docks, the “property” is scooped up by a sleazy slave merchant (Paul Giamatti), and sold at auction.
‘12 Years a Slave,’ Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, Is Mesmerizing
Marlow Stern
August 31, 2013
The right-wing press will traffic in all kinds of sleazy rumors the instant she catches cold.
The Ageist Attack on Hillary
Michael Tomasky
July 1, 2013

Historical Examples of sleazy

If too large, on the other hand, the work is apt to be sleazy.
Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet
Anonymous
This pretense, this sleazy imitation of your old room is wrong.
Moment of Truth
Basil Eugene Wells
Joe watched his narrow, bent shoulders under the sleazy shirt.
Stubble
George Looms
“Oh yes, dating younger people is so sleazy,” Lester said with a chuckle.
Makers
Cory Doctorow
He takes a kind of look-over at Hod, no collar nor nothing, and that sleazy coat of his'n.
The Broken Gate
Emerson Hough

British Dictionary definitions for sleazy

sleazy

adjective -zier or -ziest

sordid; disreputablea sleazy nightclub

thin or flimsy, as cloth

Derived Formssleazily, adverbsleaziness, noun

Word Origin for sleazy

C17: origin uncertain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sleazy

adj.

1640s, "downy, fuzzy," later "flimsy, unsubstantial" (1660s), of unknown origin; one theory is that it is a corruption of Silesia, the German region, where thin linen or cotton fabric was made for export. Silesia in reference to cloth is attested in English from 1670s; and sleazy as an abbreviated form is attested from 1670), but OED is against this. Sense of "sordid" is from 1941. Related: Sleazily; sleaziness.

A day is a more magnificent cloth than any muslin, the mechanism that makes it is infinitely cunninger, and you shall not conceal the sleazy, fraudulent, rotten hours you have slipped into the piece, nor fear that any honest thread, or straighter steel, or more inflexible shaft, will not testify in the web. [Emerson, "The Conduct of Life," 1860]