down and dirty
Rough and underhanded
Down and dirty means rough, unpolished, or aggressively practical.
It often describes getting into the gritty details of something: Let's get down and dirty with the numbers.
The phrase can also mean fiercely competitive or willing to fight unfairly: The campaign got down and dirty in the final weeks.
A down-and-dirty approach prioritizes results over elegance.
- realisticTrue to life
- nitty grittyEssential practical details
- unofficialNot formally recognized
- last-ditchFinal desperate attempt
- coarseRough in texture
unrefined · gritty · off-the-record · informal · bare bones · mud-slinging · frantic · urgent · rough · rough and tumble · untidy · in the trenches · instinctive · Machiavellian · messy · impulsive · bare-knuckle · ill-advised
- appearance idiomsall dolled up, dolled up, done up, dressed to kill, dressed to the nines
- dance stepsbasic step, side step, back step, forward step, cross step
down and dirtyrefined
Purified or cultured
elegant · polished · sophisticated · genteel · proper
down and dirtysportsmanlike
Honorable in competition
fair · honorable · above board · clean · by the book
down and dirtytheoretical
Based on hypothesis, untested
ivory tower · abstract · superficial · detached · hands-off
down, dirty, downs, downed, downing, downer, downers, downward, downwards