grubby

adjective

ˈgrə-bē How to pronounce grubby (audio)
Definition of grubbynext
1
as in filthy
not clean clean off those grubby hands before you touch anything

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dirty
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust that's a grubby reason to stop talking to a friend

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 grubby That outsider status, some former advisors and close watchers of Carney say, is precisely what gives him room to maneuver, with Canadians seeing him as above the grubby backroom dealing of traditional politics. — Desiree Adib, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026 Walsh’s spaceship deviates from many of the vessels seen in Star Wars, as those ships are often dirty and grubby to emphasize their use and wear. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 10 Aug. 2026 Run the exhaust fan during and after every shower, replace towels frequently, and clean the bathroom every week to keep it from getting grubby in summer. — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 19 July 2026 The earliest of the Roman Romance novels dates from the first century CE, just as the first emperor Augustus ended the Republic once and for all and gathered the whole Roman empire into his own grubby little hands. — Literary Hub, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for grubby
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grubby
  1. filthy
  2. dirty
  3. dusty
  4. cheap
  5. stained
  6. lame
  7. blackened
  8. pitiful
Adjective
  • There are several different subtypes of New York City Restaurant, from the humble old-timers (Katz’s, Nom Wah) to the temples of filthy lucre (Bemelmans, Rao’s).
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The invention’s intent was to cut down on distracted driving — in addition to the frustration of digging around under filthy car seats.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of filthy
Adjective
  • The concentration of quaternary ammonia in the bucket with sanitizer is low (<100 ppm) and the water is visibly dirty.
    — NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Many of the strongest initial applications are the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that go unfilled, contribute to injuries, and pull people away from higher-value judgment and exception handling.
    — Navin Chaddha, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of dirty
Adjective
  • The state was apportioned a bare 300,000 acre-feet a year in 1928, when Las Vegas was merely a dusty outpost miles from the Hoover Dam construction site.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • On July 2, 2025, a burst with energy equivalent to 1,000 suns blazing for 10 billion years lit up Fermi’s detectors, heading from a dusty galaxy about eight billion light-years from Earth.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of dusty
Adjective
  • The best seats will be the cheapest There is a wide spread in the available prices for tickets to see U2 on their 2027 tour.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The federal government was preparing to change its rules on low-value imports, threatening her ability to purchase cheaper prescription medications for blood thinning and heart failure from Canada.
    — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of cheap
Adjective
  • While stained glass does have a residential history—Frank Lloyd Wright in particular was known for incorporating art glass in projects—these colorful windows most often have religious connotations.
    — Kelsey Mulvey, Architectural Digest, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Muashaq has long been a symbol of Damascus architecture, with stained glass an art form in the city dating back to the first century.
    — Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of stained
Adjective
  • Poetry gets left behind by the exigency of character development or, in the movie’s self-defeating logic, because the art form doesn’t really matter and is only a lame excuse for people who won’t take responsibility and grow up.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Blumenthal hopes to see action on KOSA in the lame-duck session.
    — Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of lame
Adjective
  • The land, unfenced, abuts a bald blackened hillside that must be public land.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Definition of blackened
Adjective
  • Just 7% of Democrats approve, along with a pitiful 12% of independents.
    — Jon Keller, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Herbert's six interceptions is only surpassed by Drake Maye's pitiful start to the season.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of pitiful

Browse Nearby Words

grubbing (about)
grubby
grubs
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Cite this Entry

“Grubby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubby. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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