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Synonyms

cruddy

American  
[kruhd-ee] / ˈkrʌd i /

adjective

Slang.
cruddier, cruddiest

  1. covered, encrusted, or saturated with dirt, grease, or other objectionable substance; filthy.

    It gets the cruddiest work clothes clean.

  2. worthless or useless; inferior in quality; lousy.

    a cruddy, broken-down car.

  3. extremely disagreeable in character; nasty; contemptible; lowdown.

    Keep your cruddy remarks to yourself.
cruddy British  
/ ˈkrʌdɪ /

adjective

  1. dirty or unpleasant

  2. of poor quality; contemptible

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cruddy

First recorded in 1945–50; crud + -y 1

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.

Having once dismissed the vice presidency as “a cruddy job,” Cheney, who served under Bush for two terms beginning in 2001, set out to make it count.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

Scanning the water, I could make out a few objects littered on the bottom: old boat husks, a rusted shopping cart, a bicycle, and some cruddy 5-gallon buckets.

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2024

Can you buy your own internet modem and return the cruddy one you’re paying $10 a month for?

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2023

If you’re feeling really cruddy right now, join the crowd.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2022

It looks so flat, a cheap, cruddy drawing.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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.