seedy

/ˈsidi/

/ˈsidi/

Other forms: seedier; seediest; seedily

When a place is seedy, it's sleazy, run-down — not the kind of place you'd take your mom. The East Village of New York was once known for being seedy, but now it's safe for children of all ages.

It's a mystery how the word seedy came to mean darkly rundown, slummy, and seamy, but it probably came from the appearance of flowers after they've shed their seeds. That's when they start to lose their color and eventually die. You'll find seedy used to describe places like dive bars, brothels, and those sections of town where dealers ply their drugs. Certain writers, such as Dennis Cooper and even Charles Dickens, are fascinated by the seedy underbelly of life in big cities, in scenes populated by wretched people and other outcasts.

Definitions of seedy

1. adjective

   shabby and untidy
   synonyms: scruffy

   worn

   affected by wear; damaged by long use
2. adjective

   morally degraded
   “a seedy district”

   synonyms: seamy, sleazy, sordid, squalid

   disreputable

   lacking respectability in character or behavior or appearance
3. adjective

   full of seeds
   “as seedy as a fig”

   synonyms:

   black-seeded

   having black seeds

   multi-seeded, several-seeded

   having many seeds

   seeded

   having or supplied with seeds

   seeded

   having seeds as specified

   one-seed, one-seeded, single-seeded

   having a single seed

   small-seeded

   having relatively small seeds

   three-seeded

   having three seeds

   white-seeded

   having white seeds

   antonyms:

   seedless

   lacking seeds

   seeded

   having the seeds extracted

   stoneless

   (of fruits having stones) having the stone removed
4. adjective

   somewhat ill or prone to illness
   synonyms: ailing, indisposed, peaked, poorly, sickly, under the weather, unwell

   ill, sick

   affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function