1
2
as in bastard
a person whose behavior is offensive to others
a real sleaze who is constantly mooching off friends, and friends of friends
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in cheese
that which is of low quality or worth
the TV networks wouldn't be airing such sleaze if the public wasn't watching it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sleaze
Beyond its glitz and sleaze, Bright Lights is a sobering lesson on why partying does not always soothe a troubled soul.
—
Andrew Holter, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025
The guy was a sleaze, but there’s a pretty big gap between sleaziness and murderousness.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
The music sounds like a terrible Brooklyn electro indie-sleaze band opening for Crystal Castles or Yachts at Studio B, then rushing home to make sure the Tivo caught Gossip Girl.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2025
However, unlike that film's director, Claire Denis, Rollin is never afraid to indulge in camp, and occasionally outright sleaze, to juice his narrative at just the right moments.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sleaze
Andrew Holter, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025
The guy was a sleaze, but there’s a pretty big gap between sleaziness and murderousness.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
The music sounds like a terrible Brooklyn electro indie-sleaze band opening for Crystal Castles or Yachts at Studio B, then rushing home to make sure the Tivo caught Gossip Girl.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2025
However, unlike that film's director, Claire Denis, Rollin is never afraid to indulge in camp, and occasionally outright sleaze, to juice his narrative at just the right moments.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sleaze
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleaze
Noun
-
Nora Ephron for depressed perverts.—
Antonia Blyth,
Deadline,
16 Feb. 2026
-
You are being spied on by a pervert.—
Jay Ruttenberg,
New Yorker,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In the hot box next to the cashier, where food needs to be kept at or above 135 degrees to prevent bacteria growth, cheese tequeños, cheese and jalapeño tequeños, guava and cheese pastelitos, cheese pastelitos and cheese cachitos measured from 114 to 125 degrees.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
20 Apr. 2026
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There are build-your-own-bowl restaurants that encourage customers to make mountains out of carne asada and shredded cheese.—
Jenn Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This achievement offers important lessons for those seeking to defend democracy from authoritarian creep around the world.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
-
If the reader cannot answer those questions quickly, doubt creeps in.—
JD Barker,
Rolling Stone,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The jerk chicken is rubbed in a sweet honey glaze.—
Jenn Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
-
This was just the beginning of us young anarchists becoming judgmental jerks.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Some of these are arranged into more staid compositions of geometric bands of color, while others bend and bulge into shapes evoking the baroque ruination of junk-yard findings.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Dump the junk; donate the rest to the Goodwill or other donation centers.—
Terri Daxon,
Oc Register,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
After spending a decade and a half in the brains of a meth kingpin and a slimeball attorney, Gilligan wanted his next protagonist to be a force for good.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Now, these slimeballs no longer pose a threat to public safety.—
Greg Norman,
FOXNews.com,
18 July 2025
Noun
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Once completed, the $5 million acquisition will ensure the theater has a permanent home, a place where skateboarding clowns and leek-haired onions can continue to frolic and dance for decades to come.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
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Titaníque lets his inner clown soar, in drag yet, and with garish make-up just this side of Baby Jane Hudson and a mouth as foul as any David Mamet character.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Mulhouse Public Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz speaks to the press after a boy was discovered naked and malnourished on a pile of rubbish in a van where he had been kept locked up, in Hagenbach, eastern France, on April 10, 2026.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
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Stony rubbish, dead trees, the odd corpse in the garden—nothing that couldn’t be absorbed back into the earth.—
Caroline Fraser,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sleaze.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleaze. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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