noun
Meaning 1
Low moral standards.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
sleaze
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/sliːz/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -iːz
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CMU ARPABET: S L IY1 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Political corruption.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, UK, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A person of low moral standards.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A man who is sexually aggressive or forward with women to the point of causing disgust.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
Sleazy material or publications.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, uncountable
Examples
- a tabloid newspaper full of sleaze
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To act or progress in a sleazy manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- He sleazed his way over to the women at the bar.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To slander.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
tastelessness by virtue of being cheap and vulgar
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cheapness, tackiness, tat
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tastelessness
History
Etymology
Back-formation from sleazy, originally used to describe the thinness and low quality of cloth.
Across languages
Translations
38 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: безнравственост (beznravstvenost) — low moral standards
- Bulgarian: безпътност (bezpǎtnost) — low moral standards
- Bulgarian: аморалност (amoralnost) — low moral standards
- Bulgarian: порочност (poročnost) — low moral standards
- Catalan: vil — low moral standards
- Czech: špína — low moral standards
- Czech: hnus — low moral standards
- Dutch: laag allooi — low moral standards
- French: débauche — low moral standards
- Galician: vileza — low moral standards
- German: Verderbtheit — low moral standards
- Greek: αίσχη (aíschi) — low moral standards
- Hebrew: זִמָּה (zimmá) — low moral standards
- Irish: broghaisireacht — low moral standards
- Italian: malcostume — low moral standards
- Polish: zgnilizna — low moral standards
- Polish: zepsucie — low moral standards
- Polish: niemoralność — low moral standards
- Portuguese: falta de princípios — low moral standards
- Portuguese: corrupção — low moral standards
- Russian: амора́льность (amorálʹnostʹ) — low moral standards
- Bulgarian: негодник (negodnik) — a person with low moral standards
- Bulgarian: подлец (podlec) — a person with low moral standards
- Bulgarian: нищожество (ništožestvo) — a person with low moral standards
- Catalan: aprofitat — a person with low moral standards
- Czech: špína — a person with low moral standards
- French: rustre — a person with low moral standards
- French: pervers — a person with low moral standards
- Galician: canalla — a person with low moral standards
- Galician: corrupto — a person with low moral standards
- Galician: corrupta — a person with low moral standards
- Italian: scostumato — a person with low moral standards
- Polish: kanalia — a person with low moral standards
- Polish: gnida — a person with low moral standards
- Portuguese: canalha — a person with low moral standards
- Portuguese: corrupto — a person with low moral standards
- Russian: дешёвка (dešóvka) — a person with low moral standards
- Russian: ничто́жество (ničtóžestvo) — a person with low moral standards