seamier; seamiest
1
archaic : having the rough side of the seam showing
2
b
: degraded, sordid
the seamy side of urban life
seaminess noun

Examples of seamy in a Sentence

She was involved in a seamy corruption scandal.
Recent Examples on the Web While there are many moments of humor in the play, Hamill does not shy away from digging into the violent and seamy side of the world’s oldest profession. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Oct. 2023 Working with cinematographer Robby Müller, Friedkin puts a Los Angeles on screen that is equal parts glamorous and seamy, where even the palm tree in the movie’s logo looks like a gunshot wound. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023 Feinstein’s uncle, Morris Goldman, introduced her to the seamy world of San Francisco politics in the ’40s and ’50s, when bosses, bettors and bookies ran everything. Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2023 Ailes denied the claims, some of which came in the form of detailed lawsuits, but the Murdochs, the family that controls Fox, ousted him amidst amid a flurry of personal accounts of seamy behavior. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023 But for fans of those seamy places where art and smut intersect, this movie is a nasty little treat. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2023 Its spiritual forebears are more along the lines of Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing, or John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle, seamy stories of desperate men. Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2023 What to know about the Scorpio lunar eclipse During a lunar eclipse in seamy Scorpio, themes of lust, envy, wrath, and vengeance are sure to emerge. ELLE, 1 May 2023 But two recent Senate reports revealed seamy sales practices of some Medigap and Medicare Advantage plan brokers. Richard Eisenberg, Fortune Well, 11 Apr. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'seamy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of seamy was in 1605

Dictionary Entries Near seamy

Cite this Entry

“Seamy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seamy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

seamy

adjective
seamier; seamiest
: not pleasing or presentable : sordid
the seamy side of the city
seaminess noun

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