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

Relevance

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 James Whitaker’s cinematography leans into a blue-hued, grubby aesthetic that gives the film a gritty charm, while touches like the chant that goes along with the film’s title card perfectly add to its aesthetic charms. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 10 Feb. 2026 Stroheim, who shot on location, delivers a grungy and grubby story, his fanatical eye for grim detail producing a portrait of ordinary misery that assumes symbolic force. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2026 Yet its misguided grubby reputation is being peeled away to reveal the wealth of cultural and culinary treats. — Duncan Madden, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026 Welcome to the grubby reality of international diplomacy! — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2025 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
  • Few things at airports irritate customers like filthy toilets or water on the restroom floor.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 8 Aug. 2026
  • His greatest series let people see a character who has revealed the filthiest, most shameful parts of themselves, and imagine them as a mirror.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of filthy
Adjective
  • Following a perfect phone-cleaning routine Yes, your phone is dirty.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Cunningham delivered a receipt for a dirty foul on her teammate.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of dirty
Adjective
  • Video of the remarkable rescue filmed by Osorio shows the tiny infant in a dusty bodysuit being carefully pulled out of the wreckage.
    — Rocio Munoz, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Others were more barren, with dusty volcanic rocks and jagged cliffs surrounding secluded turquoise coves.
    — Annie Daly, Vogue, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of dusty
Adjective
  • Culturelle probiotics tend to be cheaper than Align products and are ideal for those with frequent diarrhea.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Birmingham26, the organisers, say that half of their 250,000 tickets — across morning and evening sessions — are £30 or cheaper.
    — Liam Tharme, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheap
Adjective
  • Dip a soft, old toothbrush in the soapy solution and scrub the stained area.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Victorian mansions that survived great storms and eras of change take up whole blocks, colossal buildings with stained glass windows and towering turrets.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 15 July 2026
Definition of stained
Adjective
  • In that time seven states seceded from the Union, while lame-duck Pres.
    — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The jokes are still wildly scattershot and frequently, knowingly lame; the production is still cheap and cheerfully scrappy; the whole ragged enterprise is still reliant on the evident affection and chemistry between its players to hold it together.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 5 Aug. 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
  • Completing the hat trick in pitiful style, Taking on the World was shot on a shoestring budget, helmed by the man behind Highlander III, and forced to rely on stock footage of real-life footballers.
    — Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 26 June 2026
  • Given the national team’s pitiful demise at the Oval, with New Zealand completing victory on the fifth morning, Ben Stokes’ revival in absentia feels like the only consolation from a miserable week.
    — Hector Vickers, New York Times, 21 June 2026
Definition of pitiful

Browse Nearby Words

grubbing (about)
grubby
grubs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Grubby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubby. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on grubby

Nglish: Translation of grubby for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All