chiefly British

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grotty The show, which chronicled two spiraling roommates in a grotty London flat who invariably do exactly the wrong thing, is not for the faint of heart. Natasha Frost, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2025 The assault took place on the grottiest of vessels, manned by violent criminals who had been banished into deep space. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2025 In a stark contrast to its predecessor, the pop star’s EP tracks chronicled the sordid and grotty bits of celebrity. Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2025 The assault took place on the grottiest of vessels, manned by violent criminals who had been banished into deep space. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2025 In a stark contrast to its predecessor, the pop star’s EP tracks chronicled the sordid and grotty bits of celebrity. Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2025 Bloober has translated the past as one might a literary classic, illuminating and modernizing the grottiest game to ever grace the PlayStation 2. Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2024 The closest match to the Grand Old Opry is Magic City, the famed strip club at the grotty end of south downtown. George Chidi, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2022 The film is the story of Robert (Daniel Zolghadri), who wants to reject the suburban comforts of his upbringing for a grotty world as an aspiring underground cartoonist. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grotty
Adjective
  • Troubled Factories: The medications came mostly from plants in India where inspectors found contaminated drugs, filthy labs and falsified records.
    Debbie Cenziper, ProPublica, 17 June 2025
  • The next year, his fame reached a new echelon after the release of Pumping Iron, a docudrama that highlighted Schwarzenegger's strange charisma and filthy sense of humor.
    Randall Colburn, EW.com, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • This record is a gentle correction for listeners who think of blues as either dusty or loud.
    Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
  • Workers in overalls walk down dusty streets that turn into dusty tracks before petering out to nowhere.
    Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 14 June 2025
Adjective
  • Furthermore, stormy weather in Stockholm meant the muddy pitch would favour the hosts’ more pragmatic style.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 22 June 2025
  • Earlier pressings of this record sounded muddy and boxed in, but here, the piano sparkles and the guitar cuts.
    Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • In its time open, fueled by fans of its blackened mahi and buttery lobster rolls, owner Mike Smith has expanded his footprint, moving into a larger stall in the popular food hall — which has allowed for a menu expansion, as well.
    Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 6 Dec. 2022
  • There are no glamorous furnishings — just a French window, its blackened panes suggesting the dark of night.
    Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2022
Adjective
  • The wider sweeps are stressing the capacity of the detention system, where detainees have reported moldy food, dirty towels and no changes of clothes for more than a week at a time.
    Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2025
  • To properly load a dishwasher for maximum cleaning power, place dishes in the dishwasher with the dirty side facing the jets, with taller items around the outside.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 June 2025
Adjective
  • Perhaps not helping so much: The set’s early reviews, which have been mostly fairly nasty in their dismissals of the set.
    Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 25 June 2025
  • Again there are two levels here, and each radically altered the color profile of the onscreen visuals – with the high setting giving everything a nasty green hue.
    Paul Ridden June 25, New Atlas, 25 June 2025
Adjective
  • He is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes and weighing 190 pounds.
    Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
  • The black coffee and ablutions came promptly at 3: 30 a.m. each morning, followed by a toe-curling breakfast.
    Nash Buckingham, Outdoor Life, 19 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Grotty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grotty. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

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