sloppy

/ˈslɑpi/

/ˈslɒpi/

Other forms: sloppiest; sloppier

Sloppy means "untidy" or "messy." If your bedroom has clothes all over the floor, it's sloppy. And, if you end up with food all over your shirt every time you eat something, you're sloppy.

Besides "out of order" or "not clean," sloppy can also mean "careless" or "overemotional." So you might do a sloppy job on an important paper for school. Or you might go to a sad movie and cry while you watch it, even though you know it's sloppy and sentimental. The original 18th century meaning of this adjective was simply "muddy." And before it meant "ground beef sandwich on a bun," a sloppy joe was a "loose, messy sweater."

Definitions of sloppy

1. adjective

   lacking neatness or order
   “a sloppy room”

   “sloppy habits”

   synonyms:

   untidy

   not neat and tidy
2. adjective

   marked by great carelessness
   “sloppy workmanship”

   synonyms: haphazard, slapdash, slipshod

   careless

   marked by lack of attention or consideration or forethought or thoroughness; not careful
3. adjective

   excessively or abnormally emotional
   synonyms: overemotional

   emotional

   of more than usual emotion
4. adjective

   wet or smeared with a spilled liquid or moist material
   “a sloppy floor”

   “a sloppy saucer”

   synonyms:

   wet

   covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
5. adjective

   (of soil) soft and watery
   synonyms: boggy, marshy, miry, mucky, muddy, quaggy, sloughy, soggy, squashy, swampy, waterlogged

   wet

   covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
6. adjective

   not fitting closely; hanging loosely
   synonyms: baggy, loose-fitting

   loose

   not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting