1
as in filthy
not clean
clean off those grubby hands before you touch anything
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grubby
When Ferrara was starting out, private investment in low-budget films was spurred by tax loopholes, a way for doctors, dentists, and racketeers to get rid of extra cash that would otherwise wind up in Uncle Sam’s grubby mitts.
—
Nick Pinkerton, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
The fate of London now rests in Lamb’s grubby hands.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2025
The upshot of this contempt is a season that layers hypocrisy as well as sanctimony over the grubby, tedious nihilism that made Dahmer so miserable to watch.
—Judy Berman, Time, 6 Oct. 2025
Don Quixote is about refusing to see the world in its actual grubby reality; to rather gild it in the beauties of our own invention.
—Ed Simon
september 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grubby
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grubby
Adjective
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Merry Christmas ya filthy animals.—
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In other words, Cunha’s job is to convince the Americans now running the federal government to give Brown’s motley crew of gender-benders, anti-Semites and filthy-rich legacies a good leaving alone.—
Adjective
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The checklist for cleaning the kitchen was probably just washing dirty dishes, wiping down countertops, and mopping the floors.—
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Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.—
Adjective
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These chambers mimic Mars’ low-pressure atmosphere, dry conditions, and dusty surface.—
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Don’t sit at home getting dusty.—
Adjective
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Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China have designed a new sodium-sulfur battery with higher power density and discharge capacity than before, enabling a cheaper, safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries.—
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Fentanyl is cheap, compact, and lethal at microscopic doses, produced through decentralized networks designed to survive disruption.—
Adjective
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Among them is the question of whether to use stained parts of the haversacks — possibly containing blood — on the straps’ reverse side, or to cut around them entirely.—
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The stained glass traces a hierarchy from the current dean to the Crown and then to God.—
Adjective
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His other go-to bogeyman, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, is now firmly in his lame-duck era as his term ends this spring.—
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Your ultra-lame social media posts (with awful production values) don’t cut it by a Colorado mile high.—
Adjective
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The land, unfenced, abuts a bald blackened hillside that must be public land.—
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In its time open, fueled by fans of its blackened mahi and buttery lobster rolls, owner Mike Smith has expanded his footprint, moving into a larger stall in the popular food hall — which has allowed for a menu expansion, as well.—
Adjective
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Here in his pitiful, mini Gaza where reasoning and logic struggle futilely.—
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Instead Tripp comes across as simultaneously pitiful and predatory, a fine line that Paulson was able to walk straight to the year-round Christmas store.—
Cite this Entry
“Grubby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubby. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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