physically filthy; disgustingly unclean.
a nasty pigsty of a room.
offensive to taste or smell; nauseating.
This ointment is really nasty—couldn't they make it smell less vile?
a nasty habit.
vicious, spiteful, or unkind.
a nasty dog;
a nasty rumor.
bad or hard to deal with, encounter, undergo, etc.; dangerous; serious: a nasty accident.
a nasty cut;
a nasty accident.
very unpleasant or disagreeable.
nasty weather.
morally filthy; obscene; indecent.
a nasty word.
Slang. formidable: a young pitcher with a nasty slider.
the raw, nasty power of this engine;
a young pitcher with a nasty slider.
unpleasant, offensive, or repugnant
(of an experience, condition, etc) unpleasant, dangerous, or painful
a nasty wound
spiteful, abusive, or ill-natured
obscene or indecent
informal a cruel or mean person
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, further origin unknown
Something nasty is filthy, foul, dirty, or awful. Nasty isn't a word for anything nice. The main meaning of nasty is for things that are unpleasant and very gross. If someone throws up in class, at least one student will probably say, "That's nasty!" The smell of a bathroom is nasty. A song full of dirty words is nasty in a different way. Nasty can also mean "extremely." In football, a vicious hit can be called a nasty hit. A mean person is a nasty person too.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The temptation to amuse the audience led him to betray his duty to appraise the work of aspiring artists who tremblingly dared present themselves before His Nasty Majesty.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
What Have You Done For Me Lately was a sassy retort to DeBarge, while Nasty was written after Janet and her friend were harassed by a group of men on the streets of Minnesota.
From BBC • Jul. 24, 2024
You mentioned Sophia Amoruso, the founder of clothing company Nasty Gal, who wrote a memoir in 2014 called “Girlboss.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2023
But its ascent came after the peak era of the so-called Girlboss, a term popularized in 2014 by Sophia Amoruso, the founder of the fashion company Nasty Gal, which went bankrupt in 2016.
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2023
“I don’t know. Nasty little pheasants all look alike to me.”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
