grubby

comparative grubbier · superlative grubbiest

1. Dirty, unwashed, unclean.

   He's a grubby little boy, always playing around by the stream.

   Synonyms: grimy, befouled, besmirched, clarty, cruddy, dirtsome, dirty, foul

2. figurativelyDisreputable, sordid.

   1 more example

   I have in mind, in particular, the claim that has echoed through the liberal side of coronavirus-era debates — that the key to sound leadership in a pandemic is just to follow the science, to trust science and scientists, to do what experts suggest instead of letting mere grubby politics determine your response.

   2020 December 19, Ross Douthat, “When You Can’t Just ‘Trust the Science’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

3. Having grubs in it.

   The United States Department of Agriculture states that grubs cost the livestock industry from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 each year. The average devaluation on grubby cattle is from 25 cents to one dollar per cwt.

   1944, National Live Stock Loss Prevention Board, Report, page 694

plural grubbies

1. USdialectalAny species of Cottus; a sculpin.