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definitions

nasty

[nas-tee]
See more synonyms for nasty on Thesaurus.com
adjective, nas·ti·er, nas·ti·est.
  1. physically filthy; disgustingly unclean: a nasty pigsty of a room.
  2. offensive to taste or smell; nauseating.
  3. offensive; objectionable: a nasty habit.
  4. vicious, spiteful, or ugly: a nasty dog; a nasty rumor.
  5. bad or hard to deal with, encounter, undergo, etc.; dangerous; serious: a nasty cut; a nasty accident.
  6. very unpleasant or disagreeable: nasty weather.
  7. morally filthy; obscene; indecent: a nasty word.
  8. Slang. formidable: The young pitcher has a good fast ball and a nasty curve.
noun, plural nas·ties.
  1. Informal. a nasty person or thing.

Origin of nasty

1350–1400; Middle English < ?
Related formsnas·ti·ly, adverbnas·ti·ness, noun

Synonyms for nasty

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1. dirty, foul, loathsome. 2. sickening, repulsive, repellent. 6 stormy, inclement. 7. smutty, pornographic.

Antonyms for nasty

1. clean, pure.

-nasty

  1. a combining form with the meaning “nastic pressure,” of the kind or in the direction specified by the initial element: hyponasty.

Origin of -nasty

< Greek nast(ós) pressed close (see nastic) + -y3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for nasty

tough, murderous, vile, noxious, vulgar, ornery, outrageous, awful, unpleasant, icky, dirty, horrible, fierce, rough, obnoxious, ribald, unseemly, wicked, distasteful, unkind

Examples from the Web for nasty

Contemporary Examples of nasty

Historical Examples of nasty

  • The adult who is nasty is not allowed to do what he likes: neither can the child who likes to be nasty.

  • Miss Georgie was, without doubt, in a nasty temper that night.

    Good Indian

    B. M. Bower

  • It's nasty to have the dirt jumpin' up right where you've got to walk.

  • They've been just gorging chickens this last year—nasty beasts!

    The Coryston Family

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • I hoped, however, that diplomacy might still save us all sorts of a nasty row.

    Ruggles of Red Gap

    Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for nasty

nasty

adjective -tier or -tiest
  1. unpleasant, offensive, or repugnant
  2. (of an experience, condition, etc) unpleasant, dangerous, or painfula nasty wound
  3. spiteful, abusive, or ill-natured
  4. obscene or indecent
  5. nasty piece of work British informal a cruel or mean person
noun plural -ties
  1. an offensive or unpleasant person or thinga video nasty
Derived Formsnastily, adverbnastiness, noun

Word Origin for nasty

C14: origin obscure; probably related to Swedish dialect nasket and Dutch nestig dirty

-nasty

n combining form
  1. indicating a nastic movement to a certain stimulusnyctinasty
Derived Forms-nastic, adj combining form

Word Origin for -nasty

from Greek nastos pressed down, close-pressed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for 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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper