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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

scuzzy en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˈskʌze/ (Scotland)
  • /ˈskʌ.zi/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
  • /-zi/ (Scotland)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈskʊzi/ (Northern-England)
  • /-zɪ/ (Scotland)

Etymology

Probably a blend of scummy + fuzzy 1960s, US, colloquial, expressive coinage, with influence from scum, fuzzy, lousy, sleazy.

Meanings

  1. (colloquial) Dirty or grimy.
    • a scuzzy toilet
    • Outside the gay discotheques, there was also a yuppy scene of 'XTC parties' that precociously featured one of the defining aspects of rave – the eschewing of alcohol in favour of juice and mineral water. For these respectable professionals, Ecstasy didn't seem like a drug; it was cheap, there was no scuzzy paraphernalia like syringes or bongs, it wasn't […] 2012, Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Soft Skull Press, →ISBN, page 281:
  2. (colloquial) Disreputable; sleazy.
    • I’d been counting on Paul, a scuzzy-but-still-sexy manager of a music club in Shoreditch, to meet up with me on my first night in London. 2016 March 21, Allison P. Davies, “What I Learned Tindering My Way Across Europe”, in Travel + Leisure, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2018:
    • They were easy to shrug off as harmless cranks, only interested in getting together in scuzzy pubs to talk about a revolution they would never manage to provoke, more likely to fight among themselves than raise a concerted attack on the minorities they were so opposed to. 2015, Eva Dolan, Tell No Tales, Random House, →ISBN, page 167:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
scuzziest Degree=Sup lexicographic
scuzzier Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Deriveds

scuzzoid · scuzzball · scuzz · scuzzbucket