nasty

UK/ˈnɑː.sti/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈnaː.sti/

nasty adjective: dirty, filthy.

Adjective

nasty (comparative nastier, superlative nastiest)

(US) Dirty, filthy.
- In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much...1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
- I really don't have any friends at school Mama Mia. They talk about me all the time. They say my hair's nappy and my clothes are nasty.2006, Marie Fontaine, The Chronicles of my Ghetto Street Volume One, page 156
Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
- Jonathan kept staring at him, till I was afraid he would notice. I feared he might take it ill, he looked so fierce and nasty.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.
- ‘It's a nasty trade,’ said Mr. Limbkins, when Gamfield had again stated his wish.1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC
Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd.
- He said to Mr. Tallboy he thought the headline was a bit hot. And Mr. Tallboy said he had a nasty mind.1933, Dorothy L Sayers, Murder Must Advertise
- We want threesomes, blowjobs, and orgies. That's just the way it is. We want the good girl who's nasty in bed.2009, Okera H, Be Your Priority, Not His Option, Mill City Press, published 2009, page 45
Spiteful, unkind.
- She had said: "I love the block button on Twitter. I don't know how people expect to send a nasty comment and not get blocked."2012 June 3, The Guardian
Synonyms:

inhuman, ruthless, sadistic, barbarous, bowelless, brutal, compassionless, cruel, flagitious, demonic
(UK) Awkward, difficult to navigate; dangerous.
- There was a nasty period during the First World War when the family's allegiance was called into question - not least because one of the Schroders had been made a baron by the Kaiser.2007 August 5, The Observer
(UK) Grave or dangerous (of an accident, illness etc.).
- Moving into the middle ages, William the Conqueror managed to rout the English and rule the country, then see off numerous plots and assassination attempts, before his horse did for him in a nasty fall, killing him at 60.2012 March 2, James Ball, The Guardian
(US, slang) Formidable, terrific; wicked.
- "Well," she grinned, looking hot and sexy. "They say you doing some real nasty shit in the NBA, but on the mic you a little too competitive. They say you a gaming niggah who likes to keep up all kinds of go-to-war gangsta friction between rappers. That shit must work for you though, huh? You...2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 15

Noun

nasty (plural nasties)

(informal) Something nasty.
- Processed foods are full of aspartame and other nasties.
- This video game involves flying through a maze zapping various nasties.
(euphemistic, slang, preceded by "the") Sexual intercourse.
A video nasty.
- In this way, it is hoped that the nasties will be dealt with, and the remainder regularized.1984, ThirdWay, volume 7, number 5, page 17
- Jones evokes the nasties discursively to brand the Splat Pack as 'authentic outlaws'.2014, mark Bernard, Selling the Splat Pack: The DVD Revolution and the American Horror Film

Verb

nasty (third-person singular simple present nasties, present participle nastying, simple past and past participle nastied)

(also, figuratively, reflexive, transitive) To besmirch, to befoul.
- But you was at much trouble, I should think, in taking care of the Doctor's fish, in gutting and cleaning them, wetting and nastying yourself with them.1875, Benjamin Graf von Rumford, The Complete Works of Count Rumford, volume 1, Macmillan
- You're just another 365 night stand / But you're so handy, you're so handy / You cheapen and you nasty every woman in this land / But you're so handy, you're so handy1992 September 19, Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray, “36D”, in 0898 Beautiful South, performed by The Beautiful South

Proper noun capitalized: Nasty

Nasty

A hamlet in Great Munden parish, East Hertfordshire district, Hertfordshire, England (OS grid ref TL3524).

nasty meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

nasty in Hindi

nasty, foul, repugnant: पलीद palīd

nasty in Urdu

nasty, foul, repugnant: پلید palīd

nasty in Bengali

কদর্য, অশ্লীল, ন্যক্কারজনক, বিপজ্জনক, খবিশ, বদমেজাজি

More languagesFewer languages

nasty in Telugu: పీడ pīḍa
nasty in Malayalam: സുഖകരമല്ലാത്ത, അപ്രിയമായ, മോശമായ, അരോചകമായ
nasty in Kannada: ಅಸಹ್ಯವಾಗುವಷ್ಟು ಕೊಳಕಾದ, ಗಲೀಜಾದ, ಅಶ್ಲೀಲವಾದ, ಅಸಭ್ಯವಾದ
nasty in Punjabi: پلیت palīt

Examples of nasty in a sentence

Sorry, I can’t come to work today—I’ve got a nasty cough.
We hit a nasty shear on approach and had to go around.
Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.

All 40 example sentences with nasty

Synonyms of nasty

23 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of nasty

Forms of nasty

Adjective
comparative	nastier
superlative	nastiest
Noun
plural	nasties
Verb
third-person singular present	nasties
present participle	nastying
past participle	nastied
past	nastied

Origin of nasty

From Middle English nasty, nasti, naxty, naxte (“unclean, filthy”), whence also Early Modern English nasky (“nasty”), of obscure origin. Probably from earlier Middle English *naskty, *naskedy, from Middle English *nasked (“dirty, messy”) + -y, ultimately of North Germanic origin (comparable to Danish nasket (“dirty, foul, unpleasant”), Swedish naskot (“dirty, filthy”), Swedish naskig, naskug (“nasty, dirty, messy”)), themselves all probably related to Proto-Germanic *hnaskuz (“tender, soft”). Likely doublet of nesh and nosh. Cognate with Scots nastie, nestie (“dirty, filthy”). Alternative theories have also been proposed, which include: * From Low German nask (“nasty”) + -y. * Middle Dutch nestich, nistich ("nasty, dirty, unpleasant" > Modern Dutch nestig (“dirty, filthy, unclean; lazy, cranky”)), perhaps ultimately connected to the Scandinavian word above, or related to *nest (“nest”). * From Old French nastre (“lowly, strange”), shortened form of villenastre (“infamous, bad”), from vilein (“villain”) + -astre (pejorative suffix), from Latin -aster. * Other suggestions include Old High German naz (“wet”), hardening of English nesh(y) (“soft”), or alteration of English naughty. *...

From Old English æt þæm eastan hæge (“at the eastern hedged enclosure”).

Words formed from nasty

Phrases with nasty

Questions about nasty

What does nasty mean?: Nasty means dirty, filthy.
What is nasty in Hindi?: Nasty in Hindi is पलीद (palīd). See Nasty meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is nasty?: Nasty can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce nasty?: Nasty is pronounced /ˈnaː.sti/ (Australia).

Words near nasty in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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

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