Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sleazy” come from?

Sleazy derives from Silesia, a region in central Europe known for producing cheap lightweight fabric in the 18th century, with the fabric's name transferred to mean shoddy or of poor quality.

sleazy (English): Marked by low quality; inferior; inadequate;...

Definitions

  1. Marked by low quality; inferior; inadequate;...

Ancestry of “sleazy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishSilesia—
2Late LatinSilesia—

Words derived from “sleazy”

  • sleaziness
  • sleazily
  • skeezy
  • unsleazy
  • skeeziness
Every word from Late Latin Silesia →