the seamy side

the seamy/seamier side (of something)

The aspects of something that are unpleasant, immoral, corrupt, or degrading. It was in the private donors' club after the fundraising dinner that we saw its seamier side, as the billionaires and corporate tycoons who claim to do so much good for the world engaged in all manner of illicit activity. The film is set in the seamy side of Hollywood in the early 1950s.
See also: seamy, side
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the ˈseamy side (of life, etc.)

the unpleasant, dishonest or immoral aspects (of life, etc.): It’s well known that the world of entertainment has its seamy side: drug abuse, corruption, alcoholism...
See also: seamy, side
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

seamy side, the

The unsavory or worst aspect. This expression alludes to the wrong side of a garment or other fabric, in which the stitched seams show. It was first transferred by Shakespeare, “He turn’d your wit the seamy side without” (Othello, 4.2), and has been used ever since to describe the unfavorable side of things.
See also: seamy
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • seamy side
  • the seamy/seamier side (of something)
  • it's no crime to (do something)
  • come to a bad end
  • come to a bad/sticky end
  • sleaze
  • sleaze factor
  • the nearer the church, the farther from God
  • nearer the church, the farther from God
  • bent
References in periodicals archive
He prevailed upon the editors of the Jesuit journal America to publish "The Seamy Side of Charity" right before the commencement of the 1967 meeting of the Catholic Inter-American Cooperation Program, an annual conference designed to encourage American interest in Latin America and the Latin American church.
Ivan Illich and Leo Mahon: folk religion and catechesis in Latin America
"Chicago" explores the seamy side of the Windy City during the roaring, crime-infested 1920s using a witty script and clever songs that entertain as they advance the narrative, all built upon brilliant choreography - alternately aerobic and restrained - by the legendary Bob Fosse.
`Chicago' provides a glitzy escape for an evening out
The seamy side of smuggling human cargo is deftly exposed by the clear and concise writing of the Edgar Award nominated author Levine.
Illegal
Exuberant, exciting, gaudy, and gritty in a way that can only be called Dickensian, Slumdog Millionaire brings contemporary Mumbai to life from the seamy side up, and it does so with brio, compassion, and all-round cinematic excellence.
Slumdog Oscar
He says that "Slumdog Millionaire" brings contemporary Mumbai to life from the seamy side up, "and it does so with brio, compassion and all-round cinematic excellence."
Oscar or not, 'Slumdog Millionaire' is India, says Tharoor
Rock is among about 100 witnesses, including actors Sylvester Stallone, Farrah Fawcett and Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey, called to testify for the prosecution in a trial that has exposed the seamy side of the movie industry.
Chris Rock testifies in Hollywood wiretap case
Jill Hartman's images of Calgary all seem to be from the seamy side of town (71).
Jon Paul Fiorentino and Robert Kroetsch, eds. Post-Prairie: An Anthology of New Poetry
Scornfully dismissing the PRC literary establishment and its Chinese Writers' Association as generally lacking in talent and frankness, Zhu Wen revels in portraying the seamy side of a crassly consumerist urban milieu in 199os China.
Zhu Wen. I Love Dollars and Other Stories of China
My sin is more one of exaggeration, hence my promise in the parish newsletter to tell "rollicking tales of the seamy side of Fleet Street" when I speak in Crookham Village Hall at 7.30pm next Thursday.
Toon and country
"Before End In Tears reaches a dramatic and highly satisfying conclusion, Rendell displays her incomparable skills to full effect, providing suspense and surprise as she explores interracial dating, baby-smuggling, the seamy side of the Internet and the importance of having the right accent." ANN HELLMUTH
End in Tears: A Wexford Novel
Only in Didion's vision, the seamy side of democracy has become a full-scale global delusion and imperial folly: Victor's affair takes place in Southeast Asia at the time of the fall of Saigon, and is interspersed with dyspeptic flashbacks from earlier U.S.
Why Americans can't write political fiction
For 15 years, she remained in her ivory tower in south-east London, sheltered from the seamy side of the animal kingdom.
Peter Thomas on Monday: Tally-ho! Fantastic Mr Foxvs the Peckham AK-47s
Horrible Histories, a series of gruesome tales about the seamy side of life in days gone by, seems to appeal to children of all ages.
Ooh, 'orrible!
THE seamy side of football will be exposed in a new play due to be staged at the Liverpool Everyman.
Arts Diary: The seamy side of the beautiful game seamy; A controversial play about football is to make its world debut Philip Key reports
In it, Robson extols the virtues of the football coverage in the country's biggest-selling Sunday paper, anorgan that happily dishes the dirt on the seamy side of the game.
PAT MURPHY: State of things to come