grungy

adjective

grun·​gy ˈgrən-jē 

grungier; grungiest

1

: shabby or dirty in character or condition

2

: characteristic of grunge music or fashion

Synonyms

• bedraggled
• befouled
• begrimed
• bemired
• besmirched
• black
• blackened
• cruddy
• dingy
• dirty
• draggled
• dusty
• filthy
• foul
• grimy
• grotty [chiefly British]
• grubby
• mucky
• muddy
• nasty
• smudged
• smutty
• soiled
• sordid
• stained
• sullied
• unclean
• uncleanly

Examples of grungy in a Sentence

After working in the garden all day, I felt sweaty and grungy.

a grungy pair of jeans

Recent Examples on the Web

There was this beautiful, really fun, cheap, grungy rehearsal studio in Culver City called Exposition Studios. —Michelle Woo, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2025

Rothman shepherded Teitelbaum’s rebrand, helping to realign her sound in a way that more authentically reflected her taste — retaining the dark tint of her Baum output, but grounding it in grungy live instruments instead of synths. —Olivia Horn, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025

No, not grungy, but just bass-heavy and 808, and drums and just mad, hard percussions. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025

While staples like Rudy’s, Welcome to the Johnsons and Sophie’s offer the purest form of dive bar — cash-only and grungy with cheap beer and shot deals — Romeo’s gives you the best of both worlds. —Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 16 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for grungy

• bungee
• spongy

Kids Definition

grungy

adjective

grun·​gy ˈgrən-jē 

grungier; grungiest

: being in a shabby or dirty condition