Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Sordid; base.
- adjective Having, marked with, or showing a seam.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having a seam or seams; containing or showing seams.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having a seam; containing seams, or showing them.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Sordid ,squalid orcorrupt . - adjective Having or showing a
seam .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective showing a seam
- adjective morally degraded
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word seamy.
Examples
-
2 Apr. 403/1 He appreciated to a considerable extent, what we may perhaps venture to call the seamy side of human affairs.
-
Shakespeare's use of "seamy" in this passage of Othello is also a pun -- appearance seeming and reality is a major theme of the play.
-
Well, I never knew about "seamy" either, and, as someone who has sewn a lot, found this fascinating.
-
In the course of conversation my wife happened to use the word "seamy," and it suddenly occurred to me to wonder why the word means what it does.
-
SIMPSON: Well, a lot of people -- I mean, you're writing a book, basically, about the kind of seamy side of politics, the dark underbelly, and so you ask a lot of questions about things that people don't want to be seen talking about.
Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistance of Corruption in American Politics 1996
-
"Why the long-running fascination with this tale, a kind of seamy modern gothic?" asks
GreenCine Daily 2009
-
Dowd is calling the whole thing "seamy," and whenever someone brings up Bill Ayers, Rich sees a
The Daily Gut 2008
-
Dowd is calling the whole thing "seamy," and whenever someone brings up Bill Ayers, Rich sees a
The Daily Gut 2008
-
Dowd is calling the whole thing "seamy," and whenever someone brings up Bill Ayers, Rich sees a
The Daily Gut 2008
-
Dowd is calling the whole thing "seamy," and whenever someone brings up Bill Ayers, Rich sees a
The Daily Gut 2008
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.