a sandwich of ground beef cooked in a spicy tomato or barbecue sauce and usually served on a bun.
a baggy, overlarge sweater originally worn by girls and young women in the 1940s.
a man or youth whose appearance is habitually slovenly.
First recorded in 1935–40
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He ordered a Sloppy Joe and told me that a young Latino man, a former gang member, had spoken at the service.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2023
That’s why you’ll see dishes such as the Amritsari Keema, a mixture of ground beef and spices akin to an Asian Sloppy Joe, on the menu.
From Washington Post • Mar. 26, 2015
Sear occasionally gets out with friends to a local pub or one of the city’s many bistros, where “they can have a Sloppy Joe, and I can have flatbread and olives.”
From Seattle Times • Jun. 6, 2013
Coffee, tea, muffins and doughnuts for early shoppers, and hot dogs, Sloppy Joe sandwiches and more about noon.
From Washington Post
And besides, once I had my sad, soupy Sloppy Joe on the tray and looked out over the rest of the cafeteria, I realized it wasn’t just the basketball team divided up this way today.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
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.
