netty
/ˈnɛti/
netty adjective: neat, well-groomed, natty.
Adjective (1)
Adjective (2)
Noun (1)
netty (plural netties)
- An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
- Neddy, Netty, a certain place that will not bear a written explanation, but which is depicted to the very life in a tail-piece in the first edition of Bewick's ‘Land Birds’ (1797), p. 285.1825, John Trotter Brockett, Glossary of North Country Words
- A line of pit cottages... tiny back gardens with outside lavatories, ‘netties’, some of them emptied twice a week by the council.1978, John Lewis, chapter III, in Uncertain Sound, page 75
- Synonyms:
- bathroom
- Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.
- Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.1903, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, page 255
- Synonyms:
- toilet
Noun (2)
netty (uncountable)
- Netball.
- "The last couple of years I was playing netty in Sydney and wanted to give rugby a go and my trainer finally gave in and we decided to make a video and give it a crack and it took it off from there," Staples said.2017 August 11, Eamonn Tiernan, “University of Canberra Sevens Rugby sign Youtube star Cassie Staples”, in Sydney Morning Herald, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2026
Proper noun capitalized: Netty
Netty
- Alternative form of Nettie.
Synonyms of netty
Forms of netty
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | nettier |
| superlative | nettiest |
| alternative form | nettie |
| alternative form | neddy |
| Noun | |
| plural | netties |
Origin of netty
From net (“elegant, neat”) + -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”).
From net (“openwork fabric mesh”) + -y (“forming adjectives”).
Uncertain. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, a euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabinetto (“toilet”).
Words that rhyme with netty
Questions about netty
- What does netty mean?
- Netty means neat, well-groomed, natty.
- What part of speech is netty?
- Netty can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce netty?
- Netty is pronounced /ˈnɛti/.
Words near netty in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: netty (page history and authors); Netty (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:
Cite this entry: “netty.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/netty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.