dirty

Syllables: dirt·y/ˈdɜːti//ˈdɝti/

dirty adjective: unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.

Image: Lionel Allorge, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

dirty (comparative dirtier, superlative dirtiest)

Unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.
- Despite a walk in the rain, my shoes weren't too dirty.
- Many persons are more comfortable when they are dirty than when they are clean; but that does not recommend dirt as a national policy.1905, George Bernard Shaw, The author's apology from Mrs. Warren's Profession, page 61
Synonyms:

filthy, soiled, sordid, unclean, unwashed, black, befouled, besmirched, clarty, cruddy

Antonyms:

clean, clean as a bean, clean as a hound's tooth, clean as a new penny, clean as a new pin, clean as a whistle, immaculate, pristine, spick-and-span, spotless
That makes one unclean; corrupting, infecting.
- Don't put that in your mouth, dear. It's dirty.
Morally unclean; obscene or indecent, especially sexually.
- At the reception, Uncle Nick got drunk and told dirty jokes to the bridesmaids.
- He sets up little cameras 'cause he likes to watch her pee / He likes to watch her pee, he's trembling with glee / He sets up little cameras 'cause he likes to watch her pee / What a dirty little bastard he can be2016 June 3, “Mr. Wright”, in Monolith of Phobos, performed by The Claypool Lennon Delirium
Synonyms:

indecent, lewd, obscene, raunchy, salacious
Dishonorable; violating accepted standards or rules.
- He might have scored, but it was a dirty trick that won him the penalty.
- The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul.1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13
Synonyms:

cheating, foul, unsporting, unsportsmanlike

Antonyms:

sportsmanlike
Corrupt, illegal, or improper.
- I won't accept your dirty money!
Synonyms:

base, dishonest, dishonorable, filthy, despicable, lousy, mean, sordid, unethical, vile
Out of tune.
- You need to tune that guitar: the G string sounds dirty.
Of color, discolored by impurities.
- The old flag was a dirty white.
Synonyms:

dingy, dullish, muddied, muddy

Antonyms:

bright, pure
Containing data needing to be written back to memory or disk.
- Occasionally it reads the sector into a dirty buffer, which means it needs to sync the dirty buffer first.
- Notice that an asterisk has been added to the filename in the edit window tabs. This is a simple reminder that the file is “dirty” and needs saving.2008, Stephen R. G. Fraser, Real World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System, page 105
(slang) Carrying illegal drugs among one's possessions or inside of one's bloodstream.
- None of y'all get into my car if you're dirty.
(informal) Used as an intensifier, especially in conjunction with "great".
- He lives in a dirty great mansion.
Sleety; gusty; stormy.
- dirty weather
- Storms of wind, clouds of dust, an angry, dirty sea.1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature
(slang) Of an alcoholic beverage, especially a cocktail or mixed drink: served with the juice of olives.
- dirty martini
Antonyms:

neat

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Of food, indulgent in an unhealthy way.
- You can call it quick-and-dirty if you like, but there are billions of dollars out there riding on the supposition that fast food is not necessarily dirty food.2003, Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, Perl Cookbook, page xix
- Dirty keto refers to an approach that follows the typical keto macro ratios, but the components include “dirty” foods like fast food, packaged convenience foods, processed meats, artificially sweetened diet sodas and sports drinks, and unhealthy […]2020, Mellissa Sevigny, Squeaky Clean Keto: Next Level Keto to Hack Your Health, Victory Belt Publishing, →ISBN, page 13
Of food, covered in an array of indulgent toppings.
- Lardo in Portland, Oregon, serves "dirty fries" topped with fried rosemary, peppers, lardons, and Parmesan.2016, Blake Lingle, Fries!: An Illustrated Guide to the World's Favorite Food, page 74
- Piled high and oozing all the trimmings, the dirty burgers here are decidedly good – spice things up with jalapeños, brie or a seriously sticky BBQ sauce.2019, Oliver Berry, Fionn Davenport, Lonely Planet England
Spreading harmful radiation over a wide area.
- a dirty explosion
- a dirty bomb
Having the undercarriage or flaps in the down position.

Antonyms:

clean
Of an audio recording: containing unwanted noise.
Producing much ash.
Containing something out of focus in the foreground, so as to frame the main subject.

Adverb

dirty (comparative more dirty, superlative most dirty)

In a dirty manner.
- to play dirty
Synonyms:

deceptively, dirtily, indecently, underhandedly

Verb

dirty (third-person singular simple present dirties, present participle dirtying, simple past and past participle dirtied)

(transitive) To make (something) dirty.

Synonyms:

soil, taint, sully
(transitive) To stain or tarnish (somebody) with dishonor.

Synonyms:

dishonour, slander, sully, assassinate, asperse, backbite, badmouth, befoul, belibel, besmirch
(transitive) To debase by distorting the real nature of (something).

Synonyms:

avile, degrade, devalue, abase, debase, debauch, depreciate, devaluate, elevate, vitiate
(intransitive) To become soiled; to soil or defecate on.
- When the blackberries begin to decay, and the seeds to appear, the children are told not to eat them any longer, as the Pooka has dirtied on them.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 371
- The markers for the slow line signals have been arranged at cab level, but for the inner fast lines they have had to be kept low in the "six-foot", with the result that they tend to be badly dirtied by passing traffic.1960 March, “Talking of Trains: S.R. signalling innovation”, in Trains Illustrated, page 135
Synonyms:

defile, dirten, muddy, sully

Noun

dirty (plural dirties)

Anything that is dirty.
- I had to get started on the trays. […] I started emptying it from the bottom, putting the dirties in the water. Then I could put the clean ones in the empty spaces to dry while I pulled more dirties from the next shelf up.2011, P. S. Wright, Braji
- Dirty eggs are grouped roughly in three classes: (A) Plain dirties, those to which soil or dung adheres; […]2022, Milo Hastings, The Dollar Hen

dirty meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

dirty in Hindi

covered with or containing dirt: गंदा gandā, मैला mailā

dirty in Tamil

அழுக்கு, அசுத்தம், அழுக்கான, மாசு கலந்த

dirty in Marathi

morally unclean, obscene or indecent: घाणेरडा ghāṇerḍā, घाणेरडी ghāṇerḍī, घाणेरडे ghāṇerḍe
covered with or containing dirt: मळकट maḷkaṭ, घाणेरडे ghāṇerḍe, घाण ghāṇ

dirty in Urdu

covered with or containing dirt: گندہ gandā, گندا gandā

More languagesFewer languages

dirty in Bengali: নোংরা nōṅra
dirty in Telugu: మురికి muriki, మురికిగా murikigā
dirty in Malayalam: അഴുക്കായ aḻukkāya
dirty in Kannada: ಗಲೀಜು galīju, ಕೊಳಕು koḷaku, ಹೊಲಸು holasu
dirty in Punjabi: ਗੰਦਾ gandā, برا burā, بھیڑا bhaeṛā
dirty in Gujarati: ગંદું gandũ, કાયર kāyar
dirty in Odia: ମଇଳା maiḷā
dirty in Sanskrit: मल mala
dirty in Sinhala: කිලිටි kiliṭi
dirty in Assamese: লেতেৰা letera
dirty in Nepali: मैलो mailo
dirty in Pashto: سخا sxâ, خيرن xirën
dirty in Tagalog: marumi, madumi, makalat
dirty in Arabic: قَذِر qaḏir, وَسِخ wasiḵ, وَسَّخَ wassaḵa
dirty in Malay: kotor
dirty in Indonesian: kotor, mengotori
dirty in Persian: کثیف kasif, پلید palid
dirty in Thai: สกปรก sòk-gà-bpròk, เลอะ lə́, เปื้อน bpʉ̂ʉan
dirty in Vietnamese: tục tĩu, bậy, bậy bạ, bẩn
dirty in Myanmar: ညစ် nyac, ပေ pe

Examples of dirty in a sentence

We have quite a playful and fun relationship in general, but it’s still surprising how dirty our sex can be in the things we say or do or pretend.2023 May 13, Kitty Drake, “This is how we do it: ‘A tired, throwaway midweek shag doesn’t interest me’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Rain type 17 was a dirty blatter battering against his windscreen so hard that it didn't make much odds whether he had his wipers on or off.1984, Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 8:

All 40 example sentences with dirty

Synonyms of dirty

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

9 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of dirty

Forms of dirty

Adjective
comparative	dirtier
superlative	dirtiest
alternative Northumbria	dorty
Adverb
comparative	more dirty
superlative	most dirty
Verb
third-person singular present	dirties
present participle	dirtying
past participle	dirtied
past	dirtied
Noun
plural	dirties

Origin of dirty

From Middle English dirti, alteration of earlier dritti, equivalent to dirt + -y. Cognate with Middle Low German drēterich (“dirty”). See also drite.

Phrases with dirty

84 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with dirty

Questions about dirty

What does dirty mean?: Dirty means unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.
What is dirty in Hindi?: Dirty in Hindi is गंदा (gandā), मैला (mailā). See Dirty meaning in Hindi.
How do you use dirty in a sentence?: We have quite a playful and fun relationship in general, but it’s still surprising how dirty our sex can be in the things we say or do or pretend.
What part of speech is dirty?: Dirty can be an adjective, an adverb, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce dirty?: Dirty is pronounced /ˈdɜːti/ (UK).

Words near dirty in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: dirty (page history and authors); dirty (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); അഴുക്കായ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಕೊಳಕು (Kannada) (page history and authors); برا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); કાયર (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-dirty.ogg, en-us-dirty.ogg.

Cite this entry: “dirty.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dirty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.