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naughty - 4 dictionary results
naugh⋅ty
[naw-tee] 
ti
–adjective, -ti⋅er, -ti⋅est.
| 1. | disobedient; mischievous (used esp. in speaking to or about children): Weren't we naughty not to eat our spinach? |
| 2. | improper, tasteless, indecorous, or indecent: a naughty word. |
| 3. | Obsolete. wicked; evil. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To naughty
| naugh·ty (nô'tē) adj. naugh·ti·er, naugh·ti·est
One that is naughty. [Middle English noughti, wicked, from nought, nothing, evil, from Old English nāwiht, nothing; see naught.] naugh'ti·ly adv., naugh'ti·ness n. Word History: The word naughty at one time was an all-purpose word similar to bad. During the 16th century one could use naughty to mean "unhealthy, unpleasant, bad (with respect to weather), vicious (of an animal), inferior, or bad in quality" (one could say "very naughtie figes" or "naughty corrupt water"). All of these senses have disappeared, however, and naughty is now used mainly in contexts involving mischief or indecency. This recalls its early days in Middle English (with the form noughti), when the word was restricted to the senses "evil, hostile, ineffectual, and needy." Middle English noughti, first recorded in the last quarter of the 14th century, was derived from nought, which primarily meant "nothing" but was also used as a noun meaning "evil" and as an adjective meaning such things as "immoral, weak, useless." Thus naughty, in a sense, has risen from nothing, but its fortunes used to be better than they are at present. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Naughty
Naugh"ty\, a. [Compar. Naughtier; superl. Naughtiest.]1. Having little or nothing. [Obs.] [Men] that needy be and naughty, help them with thy goods. --Piers Plowman. 2. Worthless; bad; good for nothing. [Obs.] The other basket had very naughty figs. --Jer. xxiv. 2. 3. hence, corrupt; wicked. [Archaic] So shines a good deed in a naughty world. --Shak. 4. Mischievous; perverse; froward; guilty of disobedient or improper conduct; as, a naughty child. Note: This word is now seldom used except in the latter sense, as applied to children, or in sportive censure.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : naughty
Spanish:
travieso,
German:
ungezogen,
Japanese:
腕白な
naughty
1377, naugti "needy, having nothing," from O.E. nawiht (see naught). Sense of "wicked, evil, morally wrong" is attested from 1529. The more tame main modern sense of "disobedient" (especially of children) is attested from 1633. A woman of bad character c.1530-1750 might be called a naughty pack.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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