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grungy

grungy

9 4.8
Dirty and covered with thick, stuck-on dirt
  • adjective
  • /ˈɡrʌn.dʒi/
  • Informal
translation icon : sucio
  • The old building had a grungy appearance, with peeling paint and dirty windows.
  • grungy-looking
  • grungy basement
  • grungy clothes

The work he did was not as grunt type, grungy work, grimy work.

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Examples

  • At the time of my mother's death, I was living in a grungy, mildewed basement apartment in Ripley.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • These sheets are a little grungy.

  • That kind of gave it like this grungy look.

  • - I feel so grungy.

  • It's all like separated and grungy and gross.

  • If you come into that interview with a grungy shirt and jeans.

    Blog text (33)
  • Next to him is a shopping cart full of broken junk and grungy clothes.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I was able to make a down payment on a small bungalow in the grungy Echo Park area of LA.

  • Instead, there'd been grungy rooms three flights up from the street.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I open all the blinds and notice that the windows are pretty grungy-looking from all the rain we've had here this past spring.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

dingy
vsgrungy
23 4.6

Dark and dirty so it does not look bright

means covered with ingrained dirt or soot rather than just dullness
grimy
vsgrungy
22 3.7

Covered in thick dirt that makes something look and feel dirty

is used for general dirty appearance not only surface texture
grubby
vsgrungy
17 1.4

Dirty and needing to be cleaned

refers more to deep ingrained dirt or soot rather than light dirt
grotty
vsgrungy
  • UK
2 8.4

Looks dirty and unpleasant, often like a shabby room or shop

focuses on ingrained dirt or soot, not general unpleasantness
begrimed
vsgrungy
8.2

Covered thickly with dark dirt or soot

is dirty in general rather than always thickly covered

Antonyms

1.0

Free from dirt or harmful things

63 5.1

Very clean and fresh, like new

41 2.5

Completely clean with no stains or dirt

How Dirty

filthy
183 1.5
grungy
  • Informal
9 4.8
soiled
1 2.5
dirty
525 1.0

Surface Forms

grungy positive
grungier comparative
grungiest superlative

Morphology

grungy = grunge (semi-transparent) = grunge + y

Formally 'grunge' + '-y' yields 'characterized by grunge', but 'grunge' is often known as a music genre and its informal sense 'dirt/grime' may not be familiar to all learners, so the link is not fully straightforward.

Etymology

Grungy comes from the slang grunge, which meant 'dirt' or a rough, messy style, and the ending -y means 'full of' or 'having'. So grungy describes something that looks covered in dirt or soot.