dirtiness

plural dirtinesses

1. uncountableusuallyThe state or quality of being dirty.

   Dirtiness is inherent in hotels and restaurants, because sound food is sacrificed to punctuality and smartness.

   1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XIV, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC

   2 more examples

   Paul was distressingly clean, but Babbitt reveled in a good sound dirtiness, in not having to shave till his spirit was moved to it.

   1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XI, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, section IV, page 150

   So they walked till they came to Claremont and Kumalo was shocked by its shabbiness and dirtiness, and the closeness of the houses, and the filth in the streets.

   1948, Alan Paton, chapter 6, in Cry, the Beloved Country, New York: Scribner, published 1987

   Synonyms: filthiness, soil