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grubbiness

adjective, grub·bi·er, grub·bi·est.

dirty; slovenly: children with grubby faces and sad eyes.
infested with or affected by grubs or larvae.
contemptible: grubby political tricks.

adjective -bier or -biest

dirty; slovenly
mean; beggarly
infested with grubs

adj.

“dirty,” by 1845, from grub (n.) in a sense of “dirty child” (who presumably got that way from digging in earth) + -y (2). Earlier it was used in a sense of “stunted, dwarfish” (1610s) and “infested with grubs” (1725). Related: Grubbily; grubbiness.