naughty step

Syllables: naugh·ty step/ˈnɔːti ˌstɛp/US/ˈnɔti ˌstɛp/

naughty step noun: a place, such as a particular step on a staircase or a stool, where a child is sent to sit in silence as a punishment.

Noun

naughty step (plural naughty steps)

(UK) A place, such as a particular step on a staircase or a stool, where a child is sent to sit in silence as a punishment.
- She is still talking to them at length about bringing up children without naughty steps.2007, Lucy Cavendish, “Tuesday”, in The Invisible Woman, Rearsby, Leicester: W. F. Howes, →ISBN, page 375
- I use the naughty step technique. Harvey understands that if he throws something he has to pick it up. say sorry and go and sit on the naughty step and count to thirty.2008, Katie Price, “Harvey’s Progress”, in Jordan: Pushed to the Limit, London: Arrow, Random House, published 2009, →ISBN, page 90
(UK, figuratively) A state of disgrace, exclusion from a group, or punishment as a result of a misdemeanour.
- When David Cameron moved into Downing Street he probably thought that he would only ever banish his children to the naughty step. But a member of the cabinet [Liam Fox] has been placed on the Downing Street naughty step after weeks of bad behaviour which has tested the prime minister's patience to...2010 July 13, Nicholas Watt, “Liam Fox is placed on the Downing Street naughty step after testing David Cameron’s patience”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media...
- Two of English rugby's more troublesome individuals – the London Irish full-back Delon Armitage and the former Wasps outside-half Danny Cipriani – found themselves on the naughty step once again yesterday as the union game's reputation, comprehensively battered after recent incidents involving...2011 May 4, Chris Hewett, “Armitage and Cipriani latest to be put on naughty step”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 May 2011

Examples of naughty step in a sentence

I know someone who uses and uses and uses the naughty step and threat of same, so much so that the phrase sets my teeth on edge.2011, Natasha Joffe, Justine Roberts, “You Don’t Have to Have a Naughty Step but the Odd Star Chart Never Killed Anybody: Modern...
When I am on the naughty step I can see into the family room.2011, “The Naughty Step”, in Stephen Jones, editor, Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead, Berkeley, Calif.: Ulysses Press, →ISBN:
Warn once, then follow through with the Naughty Step. […] And yes, you can discipline more than one child at once.2014, Jo Frost, “Good Behaviour SOS”, in Jo Frost’s Toddler Rules: Your 5-step Guide to Shaping Proper Behavior, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine...
She [Tanya Byron] implicitly referenced [Jo] Frost’s most infamous Supernanny technique, stating that she was ‘not a fan of naughty steps’ (see Mumsnet, 2007).2018, Tracey Jensen, “The Cultural Industry of Parent-blame”, in Parenting the Crisis: The Cultural Politics of Parent-blame, Bristol...

Forms of naughty step

plural	naughty steps

Origin of naughty step

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 2 (“state of disgrace, exclusion from a group, or punishment”) is attested earlier than sense 1 (“place where a child is sent to sit as a punishment”), though logically sense 2 follows from sense 1. The term was popularized by the professional nanny and author Jo Frost (born 1970) in the British television show Supernanny (first broadcast in 2004).

Questions about naughty step

What does naughty step mean?: Naughty step means a place, such as a particular step on a staircase or a stool, where a child is sent to sit in silence as a punishment.
How do you use naughty step in a sentence?: I know someone who uses and uses and uses the naughty step and threat of same, so much so that the phrase sets my teeth on edge.
What part of speech is naughty step?: Naughty step is a noun.
How do you pronounce naughty step?: Naughty step is pronounced /ˈnɔːti ˌstɛp/ (UK).
What is the plural of naughty step?: The plural of naughty step is naughty steps.

Words near naughty step in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: naughty step (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-naughty step.wav.

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