dross

/drɔs/
noun
  1. Waste or impure material that rises to the surface of molten metal; scum.
    • During refining, dross is removed to leave pure silver.
    • The factory recycled the dross from the smelting process.
    • The blacksmith skimmed the dross off the melted iron.
  2. Something worthless, trivial, or of low quality.
    • He sifted through the dross of old magazines to find a rare photograph.
    • Most of the articles online are dross, but a few are worth reading.
    • The movie was entertaining, but the sequel was pure dross.
Antonyms