nasty
- physically filthy; disgustingly unclean: a nasty pigsty of a room.
- offensive to taste or smell; nauseating.
- offensive; objectionable: a nasty habit.
- vicious, spiteful, or ugly: a nasty dog; a nasty rumor.
- bad or hard to deal with, encounter, undergo, etc.; dangerous; serious: a nasty cut; a nasty accident.
- very unpleasant or disagreeable: nasty weather.
- morally filthy; obscene; indecent: a nasty word.
- Slang. formidable: The young pitcher has a good fast ball and a nasty curve.
- Informal. a nasty person or thing.
Origin of nasty
Synonyms
See more synonyms for nasty on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for nastily
Contemporary Examples
David Foster Wallace nastily imagined readers “under 40” asking about Updike, in a 1997 essay.
Historical Examples
(nastily spoken) I always said, if she came there would be trouble.
Niobe, All SmilesHarry Paulton and Edward A. (Edward Antonio) Paulton
“I say though, but you kept it devilish dark,” he said, nastily.
A Frontier MysteryBertram Mitford
"When I want to hear your side of the story, I'll ask you for it," Goil said nastily.
Jack of No TradesCharles Cottrell
"Doesn't take her mind off herself," suggested the doctor, nastily.
Mavis of Green HillFaith Baldwin
"You don't seem to have much confidence in your own medical opinions," he said nastily.
In JeopardyVan Tassel Sutphen
nasty
- unpleasant, offensive, or repugnant
- (of an experience, condition, etc) unpleasant, dangerous, or painfula nasty wound
- spiteful, abusive, or ill-natured
- obscene or indecent
- nasty piece of work British informal a cruel or mean person
- an offensive or unpleasant person or thinga video nasty
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for nastily
nasty
adj.
c.1400, "foul, filthy, dirty, unclean," of unknown origin; perhaps [Barnhart] from Old French nastre "miserly, envious, malicious, spiteful," shortened form of villenastre "infamous, bad," from vilein "villain" + -astre, pejorative suffix, from Latin -aster.
Alternative etymology [OED] is from Dutch nestig "dirty," literally "like a bird's nest." Likely reinforced in either case by a Scandinavian source (cf. Swedish dialectal naskug "dirty, nasty"), which also might be the source of the Middle English word. Of weather, from 1630s; of things generally, "unpleasant, offensive," from 1705. Of people, "ill-tempered," from 1825. Noun meaning "something nasty" is from 1935. Related: Nastily; nastiness.