Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Informal Filth; dirt.
  • noun Rock music that incorporates elements of punk rock and heavy metal, often expressing a bleak or nihilistic outlook.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun informal Dirt or filth, especially when difficult to clean.
  • noun informal The state of being filthy; grubbiness.
  • noun A subgenre of alternative music, originating from Seattle, Washington, which melds punk and metal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of being covered with unclean things

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from grungy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from grungy.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word grunge.

Examples

  • Though the film makes relatively few gestures toward contextualizing the band's place in the music of the '90s the band's members scorn the term grunge as a reductive buzzword, there are a few heartrending clips of The Most Dangerous Line of Latitude on the Planet Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic.

    Slate Magazine Dana Stevens 2011

  • Not once during these shows did the word grunge cross my mind.

    In search of Nirvana 2011

  • Pearl Jam went on to surpass its 1990s contemporaries like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana, even as it transcended the label grunge.

    NYT > Home Page By ANDY WEBSTER 2011

  • With British music in the grip of acid house, and long before the term grunge was in popular use, a trio of musicians from Seattle played the Astoria at the bottom of a bill featuring fellow plaid-shirted rockers TAD and Mudhoney.

    Music news, reviews, comment and features | guardian.co.uk 2009

  • "The term grunge doesn't really bring a whole lot to my mind," Arm says over the phone from his home in Seattle.

    Dallas Observer | Complete Issue 2008

  • "The term grunge doesn't really bring a whole lot to my mind," Arm says over the phone from his home in Seattle.

    Dallas Observer | Complete Issue 2008

  • And dear god, when can we finally retire the term grunge for anything that's worn or distressed looking?

    Netvouz - new bookmarks nicolas_evans 2008

  • And dear god, when can we finally retire the term grunge for anything that's worn or distressed looking?

    Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz 2008

  • "The term grunge doesn't really bring a whole lot to my mind," Arm says over the phone from his home in Seattle.

    Dallas Observer | Complete Issue 2008

  • But the word "grunge," if not beloved, does accurately describe the music's sense of loss, frustration, and anger and the depth of the magically evocative drop D power chord, which you hear in songs like Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains.

    The Seattle Sound Ken Kurson 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.