filthy
Americanadjective
-
filthier,
comparative
-
filthiest
superlative
-
foul with, characterized by, or having the nature of filth; disgustingly or completely dirty.
-
filthy language.
-
contemptibly offensive, vile, or objectionable.
to treat one's friends in a filthy manner.
-
(of money) abundantly supplied (often followed bywith ).
They're filthy with money.
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Slang. (especially in sports) formidable: knocked down by a filthy right hook.
a young rookie with a filthy curveball;
knocked down by a filthy right hook.
verb (used with object)
idioms
adjective
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characterized by or full of filth; very dirty or obscene
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offensive or vicious
that was a filthy trick to play
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informal extremely unpleasant
filthy weather
adverb
Synonym Usage
See dirty.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of filthy
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see origin at filth, -y 1
Explanation
Filthy is a dirty word. Sure, you can say it aloud in public, but it means "dirty" — like your dirty laundry pile by the end of the week. The joy of filthy really lies in the limitless range of its usage. Just about anything can be filthy, not just your dirty socks. You can have filthy living conditions, or wear filthy clothes, but it's also used to refer to something morally or ethically odious, too: "filthy liar," "filthy language," and so on. It can also indicate envy or outrage on the part of the user, as in our favorite use of the word, "filthy rich." Now that's a use of filthy we'd be happy to put up with.
Vocabulary lists containing filthy
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Tax Day Words
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Vocabulary from history writings about the Triangle Factory Fire
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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.
See Examples For:
When I received this jacket, it was filthy and under $200, but I just washed it carefully.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
No matter how filthy a tackle might be, Deschamps instructed his players to bounce back up and carry on in silence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Only a few days after the pool was refilled, though, it reverted what it always is: a filthy slime pit that nevertheless does an adequate job of its primary objective: reflecting.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2026
His fine performance against a physical Sunderland side on a filthy night in the north east demonstrated what he can do and how he can make Liverpool a better side.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
The girl gave a happy yelp, not unlike a fox kit, and they carried on down the road, hand in hand, swinging their filthy prize and sack of rubbish all the way.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
"The state of 'neither war nor peace' is far filthier than war itself," 39-year-old Tehran resident Shahrzad told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
Yorgos Lanthimos earned a nomination five years ago for his last movie, the spiky period farce “The Favourite,” and his latest, “Poor Things,” is funnier, filthier and even more inventive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
That sponge, I reasoned, had to be way filthier than whatever Key Food filth had been lingering on the Coke I was about to bring to my lips.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2023
It’s filthier than your English teacher let on.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2013
The water was filthier than she could have imagined.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
In a school playground squeezed between two main roads, children play tag in some of Sheffield's filthiest air.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2023
We celebrated everything we could, bouncing from fancy restaurant to the filthiest dive bars we could find every week.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2023
We all have the craziest, filthiest, wicked sense of humor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
“One of the filthiest pitches I’ve ever seen,” Callaway said.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2019
What conjecture should lead a man to make an experiment of such a singular and admirable secret, especially in a goat, the filthiest beast ... in the whole world?
From On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth a new physiology, demonstrated by many arguments & experiments by William Gilbert
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.
