adjective
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Etymology
Origin of trashy
Explanation
Something trashy is cheap and tacky or badly made, like the trashy gossip magazines your friend reads. Since the early 17th century, trashy has been used to mean "worthless, or resembling trash." Use this adjective for gaudy or flashy things, like trashy costume jewelry, or things with no perceived value, like a trashy novel or movie. Don't use trashy to describe a person — it's offensive to talk about someone as being without value, worthless, or inferior.
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:
But this could be the perfect trashy romp for the end of summer.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Some critics have called Your Fault: London clichéd, unnecessary and "fanfiction-like" - Variety said the first film in the trilogy was "a trashy gimmick" and a "tasteless" adaptation of "tawdry teen literature".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Those who appreciate a little chiaroscuro interplay in their trashy TV ensembles might fall for this guy, if only for being a potent, balancing opposition to Rapaport’s windbaggery.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2026
It’s trashy noir yet elevated and totally dead-eyed — as if Flannery O’Connor took a crack at writing a James M. Cain story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
And she didn’t need to spend her mornings watching trashy television when she could be sleeping.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
That’s understandable—Thirteen Women is a trashy adaptation of an even trashier novel, which is an awfully thin hook to hang the entire concept of unrealized show business ambitions from—but it’s also a shame.
From Slate ● May 11, 2020
Sunday night’s VMAs — a night even trashier than the Golden Globes, of course — would follow.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2017
“The Girl on the Train” is the trashier, paperback version.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 4, 2016
“The newer or trashier the clock, the more pain I experience,” he added.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2016
The trashier it gets, the better; I'm not interested in Kramer Vs Kramer or The People Vs Larry Flynt – no Oscars, thanks!
From The Guardian ● Aug. 12, 2011
Goldman Sachs pointed out in a recent report that a basket of heavily shorted stocks, often considered the trashiest of the trash, had surged 24% in just the past month.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025
Murdoch made Povich a famous man by bankrolling one of the trashiest shows on TV.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2022
He appeared on “The Love Boat” TV series, which was the trashiest thing of the ’80s.
From New York Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
He said his office received 3,000 phone calls “with many being the trashiest you can imagine” after a state party convention last weekend awarded all 34 delegates to Cruz.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2016
Dinners and drinks, backgammon and billiards, the lightest opera, the trashiest novels, the most sensational melodrama are the most elevating of their leisure's activities.
From The "Goldfish" by Arthur Cheney Train
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