quick-and-dirty

adjective

Done or constructed in a hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate manner, but not exact, fully formed, or reliable for a long period of time.

“I can do a quick-and-dirty market analysis in time for the meeting tomorrow.”

Similar
slipshod
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Meanings

adjectivequick-and-dirty (comparative more quick-and-dirty, superlative most quick-and-dirty)

comparative more quick-and-dirty · superlative most quick-and-dirty · alternative quick and dirty

  1. idiomaticDone or constructed in a hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate manner, but not exact, fully formed, or reliable for a long period of time.

    I can do a quick-and-dirty market analysis in time for the meeting tomorrow.

    Synonyms: slipshod

nounquick-and-dirty (plural quick-and-dirties)

plural quick-and-dirties · alternative quick and dirty

  1. USslangAn inexpensive, inelegant eatery; a greasy spoon.
  2. idiomaticA quick, temporary fix, estimate, or the like.

    The car broke down but we managed to do a quick-and-dirty and were back on the road in fifteen minutes.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveDone or constructed in a hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate manner, but not exact, fully formed, or reliable for a long period of time.

Similar
slipshod
Also see
bodgelash-upmake-doprecipitantprecipitaterashrecklessstopgapunexactingworkaround

Origin

The Oxford English Dictionary shows the first usage of this phrase in 1896 in the Boston Globe to describe a place to eat. The first use meaning "slipshod" was from 1939 in the gun-slinging, American Western fiction paperback, "Bounty Guns" by Luke Short.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French quick-and-dirty
  • quick-and-dirtyhasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
Polish zgrubny
  • zgrubnyhasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
Russian на скорую руку, на коленке
  • на скорую руку (na skoruju ruku)hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
  • на коленке (na kolenke)hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
  • грубый (grubyj)hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
  • халтурный (xalturnyj)hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
  • из говна́ и па́лок (iz govná i pálok)hasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
Spanish cutre
  • cutrehasty, approximate, temporarily adequate
Cite this entry
APA

quick-and-dirty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quick-and-dirty

MLA

“quick-and-dirty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quick-and-dirty. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quick-and-dirty,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quick-and-dirty.

Source: quick-and-dirty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.