grunge

American  

[gruhnj] / grʌndʒ /

noun

Slang.

1. dirt; filth; rubbish.

2. something of inferior quality; trash.

   He didn't know good music from grunge.

3. a person who works hard, usually for meager rewards; grind.

4. a style or fashion derived from a movement in rock music: in fashion characterized by unkempt clothing and in music by aggressive, nihilistic songs.

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grunge British  

/ ɡrʌndʒ /

noun

1. slang dirt or rubbish

2. a style of rock music originating in the US in the late 1980s, featuring a distorted guitar sound

3. a deliberately untidy and uncoordinated fashion style

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Etymology

Origin of grunge

1960–65; expressive coinage, perhaps reflecting grime and sludge; sense “grind” perhaps by association with drudge

Example Sentences

That girl was still going round from chair to chair selling beadwork, her hair curly, messy, grunge, but her face all smiles.

From Literature

And while it didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, its concurrence with the height of the Seattle grunge music scene made the disheveled aesthetic a street-style must-have.

From Salon

He did a poorly received grunge collection that incoherently tried to marry haute couture with thrift-store shabbiness, and was fired for it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Vaguely grunge in vibe, the track overtly recalls second feminism’s suspicion of feminine adornment.

From Salon

The instrument also paved the way to an aesthetics of electricity—feedback, distortion, fuzz, sheer volume—that led to such genres as heavy metal, punk, grunge and shoegaze.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• filth
• grease
• grime
• soil
• stain