grubby

«grubby» in Mova's school dictionary: Rather dirty, usually from mud, sweat or touching things — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (grubby, grubbier, grubbiest)

meaning for a pupil

1) Rather dirty, usually from mud, sweat or touching things. tree →

2) (informal) Not quite honest or decent: a grubby little trick. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life «grubby» describes children's hands, knees, clothes and old books; adults say «wash those grubby hands before dinner». In hygiene lessons it reminds us to wash hands to remove germs. In stories it can describe a dishonest deal or a poor, dirty place. Phrases: grubby hands, grubby little fingers, grubby clothes.

examples

• Wash your grubby hands before you eat! tree →
• His school shirt was grubby after playtime. tree →
• The library book had grubby fingerprints on it. tree →
• The grubbiest kid on the team scored the winning goal. tree →
• The car was grubby after the muddy road. tree →
• It was a grubby trick to cheat in the quiz. tree →

note

Comparative: grubbier, grubbiest (y → i). From «grub» (dirt, or an insect larva). Milder than «filthy». Informal word.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «grubby» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.