adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
Rivers that wind through Los Angeles County have a trashy reputation.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
“Of course I’m not the Hollywood girl. I’m like the trashy Missouri bar girl,” Slayyyter said.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
A disco ball, aka “myriad reflector,” can turn any trashy hellhole into a party space, especially if you don’t look too closely.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
It’s maybe a little trashy, in the best possible way.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2025
But a patch of ground in this trashy lot—I can change that.
From "Seedfolks" by Paul Fleischman
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.
