grubby
1 Americannoun
plural
grubbiesadjective
-
dirty; slovenly
-
mean; beggarly
-
infested with grubs
Other Word Forms
- grubbily adverb
- grubbiness noun
Etymology
Origin of grubby1
First recorded in 1605–15; grub + -y 1
Origin of grubby2
Origin uncertain
Explanation
Grubby things are really dirty, like your little sister's grubby hands after she's spent an afternoon making mud pies. Have you ever seen a little kid eat a chocolate ice cream cone on a hot day? Picture the kid's face covered in chocolate and you'll have a good idea of what grubby means! This adjective dates back to the mid-19th century, from grub, which means "insect larva" and which was once colloquially used to mean "dirty child."
Vocabulary lists containing grubby
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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The Magician's Nephew
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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.
In Mohit’s telling, Laxman seems merely grubby and small-minded.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
For admirers who like their Bard semidivine, it’s unappealing to think of him amid these grubby realities.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
He stress-tests our icky, grubby pity for Matthew and, beyond that, the flimsiness of modern fame culture and its fake-it-till-you-make-it inspirational platitudes.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
The teenagers designed and tailored the outfits and also doubled up as models to showcase their creations, with the grubby walls and terraces of the slum providing the backdrop for their ramp walk.
From BBC • Nov. 22, 2024
If most almanacs were designed to last only for a year, even a perpetual almanac would soon become grubby and dog-eared.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
