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nasty

- 4 dictionary results

–adjective

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.

–noun

Informal. a nasty person or thing.

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Origin:
1350–1400; ME < ?

—Related forms

nas·ti·ly, adverb

nas·ti·ness, noun

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

—Antonyms
1. clean, pure.

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

Origin:
< Gk nast(ós) pressed close (see nastic) + -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Link To nasty

World English Dictionary

nasty (ˈnɑːstɪ)

—*adj* , -tier, -tiest
1.	unpleasant, offensive, or repugnant
2.	(of an experience, condition, etc) unpleasant, dangerous, or painful: a nasty wound
3.	spiteful, abusive, or ill-natured
4.	obscene or indecent
5.	informal (Brit) nasty piece of work a cruel or mean person

—n , -tier, -tiest, -ties
6.	an offensive or unpleasant person or thing: a video nasty

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

'nastily

—*adv*

'nastiness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

nasty

c.1400, "foul, filthy, dirty, unclean," perhaps from O.Fr. nastre "bad, strange," shortened form of villenastre "infamous, bad," from vilein "villain" + -astre, pejorative suffix, from L. -aster. Alternative etymology is from Du. nestig "dirty," lit. "like a bird's nest." Likely reinforced by a Scand. source (cf. Swed. dial. naskug "dirty, nasty"). Of weather, from 1634; of things generally, "unpleasant, offensive," from 1705. Of people, "ill-tempered," from 1825.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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