natty
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of natty
Explanation
Natty means current in style, both of dress and manners. A natty dresser is someone who is very stylish and has a snappy attitude. He may even be wearing a natty fedora. Natty is an adjective that comes from the 18th century. Originally it was a slang term, perhaps related to the adjective neat. These days, if you say someone “looks neat,” it might sound like they look clean, but it also can mean that they look fashionable and put together. That’s what natty means, too. Someone who is natty is wearing fashionable clothes and is generally hip.
Vocabulary lists containing natty
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "N"
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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The best advice for junior-level financiers, according to Tim Gunn, the natty fashion author and academic: Read the room.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
“Our mission all year was natty or bust, so we know we got to finish the job.”
From Washington Times • Jan. 2, 2024
He was small, but he was a natty dresser and possessed a trim mustache and a dazzling smile.
From New York Times • May 8, 2023
But one question he asks the players who verbalize the aspiration of winning the natty is: “Are you putting in the work to reach that goal?”
From Seattle Times • Apr. 22, 2023
Then three men in natty cream-colored summer suits came to stand near me at the curb, and something about them struck me like a hammer.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
