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nasty

[nas-tee]
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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.
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noun, plural nas·ties.
  1. Informal. a nasty person or thing.
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Origin of nasty

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

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

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.
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Origin of -nasty

< Greek nast(ós) pressed close (see nastic) + -y3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

toughmurderousvilenoxiousvulgarorneryoutrageousawfulunpleasantickydirtyhorriblefierceroughobnoxiousribaldunseemlywickeddistastefulunkind

Examples from the Web for nasty

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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
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noun plural -ties
  1. an offensive or unpleasant person or thinga video nasty
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Derived Formsnastily, adverbnastiness, noun

Word Origin

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
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Derived Forms-nastic, adj combining form

Word Origin

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper