salty
Americanadjective
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saltier,
comparative
-
saltiest
superlative
-
racy or coarse.
salty humor.
-
of the sea, sailing, or life at sea.
salty tales of adventure on the high seas.
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Slang. (especially of a sailor) toughened by experience.
proud and salty Marines.
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Slang. angry, upset, or hostile, especially due to embarrassment or failure.
He gets all salty whenever he loses.
adjective
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of, tasting of, or containing salt
-
(esp of humour) sharp; piquant
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relating to life at sea
Usage
What else does salty mean? Salty is a slang term for irritated, angry, or resentful, especially as a result of losing or being slighted. This sense of salty originates in and was popularized by Black English.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of salty
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; see origin at salt 1, -y 1
Explanation
Potato chips and sea captains are salty. Salty can mean literally covered in salt like those delicious chips, or just crotchety, like a foul-mouthed skipper. You can't drink sea water because it's so salty — but it may be hard for you to eat certain foods when they're not salty enough. Colloquially, you can use this adjective to mean "down-to-earth," "aggressive," or "exciting." So for example you could describe a movie pirate who's tough and blunt-spoken as salty. The "exciting or provocative" meaning dates from the 1860s, from the sense of "giving life or strong flavor."
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.
See Examples For:
“Paper Tiger” “I’m still salty — make that sandy — that ‘Dune: Part Two’ didn’t heap up more awards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
A convicted murderer serving a life sentence in Australia has lost his bid to overturn a ban on prisoners consuming Vegemite - the salty yeast-based spread that has become a national symbol.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
I like to arrange an almost ridiculous assortment of crunchy, creamy, salty, fresh and acidic things, allowing everyone to customize their bowls.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
In contrast, their ability to detect salty and sour flavors remained largely unaffected.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
The smell of the sea was in it, salty and sweet.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
North of the Polar Front, where waters are warmer and saltier, lives the eastern lineage, Pygoscelis taeniata, found on the Crozet, Marion, and Macquarie Islands.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
That was particularly true in areas like saltier snacks, said Jocelyn Carter, senior strategic marketing director for private label at ingredient developer Kerry.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
This is a story about AI and chips, but not AI chips—think saltier, a little more crunchy, lower price tag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Whether your team chicken, shrimp, or beef, the individual packets are highly concentrated and on the saltier side.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
But what she brought back was familiar, the dried fish even saltier, and she sang, with an amused expression, the song the women sang at the center.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
For instance, McDonald's chicken nuggets are saltiest in the U.S. and even American Coke contains salt, an ingredient it lacks in other countries.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2024
The saltiest language — some of it referring to Heard — was silenced on Court TV, which is broadcasting the trial live.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2022
With that goal in mind, Pugh, Manda and Andrea Gibbs, the local agriculture agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension, convened at the edge of Pugh’s saltiest field on a recent blustery afternoon.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2019
That is why, to me, swimming will always mean swimming in the Pacific, in water that can only be described in extremes: the bluest, the saltiest, the wildest, the least predictable.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2016
For Captain Nelson was more than a humorist and entertainer: he was pre-eminently a sailor of the saltiest type, and he had a real barbaric joy in a fight.
From The Victory At Sea by Burton J. Hendrick
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