SEEDY (seedier, seediest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: seedier    , seediest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does seedy mean? 

• SEEDY (adjective)
  The adjective SEEDY has 4 senses:

1. full of seeds

2. shabby and untidy

3. somewhat ill or prone to illness

4. morally degraded

  Familiarity information: SEEDY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEEDY (adjective)

Comparative: seedier   
Superlative: seediest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Full of seeds

Context example:

as seedy as a fig

Similar:

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)

Antonym:

seedless (lacking seeds)

Derivation:

seed (a small hard fruit)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Shabby and untidy

Synonyms:

scruffy; seedy

Context example:

he was soiled and seedy and fragrant with gin

Similar:

worn (affected by wear; damaged by long use)

Derivation:

seediness (a lack of elegance as a consequence of wearing threadbare or dirty clothing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Somewhat ill or prone to illness

Synonyms:

ailing; indisposed; peaked; poorly; seedy; sickly; under the weather; unwell

Context example:

is unwell and can't come to work

Similar:

ill; sick (affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Morally degraded

Synonyms:

seamy; seedy; sleazy; sordid; squalid

Context example:

the squalid atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal

Similar:

disreputable (lacking respectability in character or behavior or appearance)

 Context examples 

With his collar turned up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he was a perfect sample of the class.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had thrown off the seedy frockcoat, and now he was the Holmes of old in the mouse-coloured dressing-gown which he took from his effigy.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Soft, seedy biscuits, also, I bestow upon Miss Shepherd; and oranges innumerable.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Martin had heard Herbert Spencer quoted several times in the park, but one afternoon a disciple of Spencer's appeared, a seedy tramp with a dirty coat buttoned tightly at the throat to conceal the absence of a shirt.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He was dressed in the seedy frockcoat of the book merchant, but the rest of that individual lay in a pile of white hair and old books upon the table.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several places.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)