maggoty

comparative more maggoty · comparative rare maggotier · superlative most maggoty · rare superlative maggotiest · alternative maggotty · alternative magotty

1. literallyInfested with or partially eaten by maggots; flyblown.

   He pilots his disreputable father-in-law through the maggotier parts of the Big Apple, tries out unsuccessfully for a job as gorilla, pulls off an unconvincing fraud (surely Gothamites don’t hand over against an uncleared cheque?).

   1980, The Times Literary Supplement, London: The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 470, column 3

   Synonyms: flyblown, worm-eaten

2. datedfigurativelyFull of whims; capricious; freakish.

   the Maggoty Turn of Fortune's Wheel

   1694, Nicolas Rémond des Cours, unknown translator, The True Conduct of Persons of Quality

   1 more example

   In the book, what holds the sketchy characters, the narrative chunks, and the ideas together is West's maggoty wit—positioning himself halfway between contempt and fear, clinging to literary sophistication as if it were the Mother Church.

   1975, Pauline Kael, The Day of the Locust

   Synonyms: maggotish

3. derogatoryfigurativelyUnpleasant or bad-tempered.

   I want you to know that I think you are a maggoty mother-fucking son of a bitch

   1975, Robert Lipscomb Duncan, Dragons at the Gate