dirty Hear it!

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dirty definition

dirty (dʉrt′ē)

adjective dirtier dirt′i·er, dirtiest dirt′i·est

  1. soiled or soiling with dirt; unclean
  2. causing one to be soiled with dirt a dirty occupation
  3. lacking luster or brilliance; dull, grayish, etc. a dirty green
  4. obscene; pornographic dirty jokes
  5. given to lechery or lustful thoughts; prurient a dirty mind, dirty old man
  6. disagreeable or contemptible; mean; nasty a dirty coward
  7. unfair; dishonest; unsportsmanlike a dirty player
  8. unkind; malicious or malevolent dirty remarks
  9. ☆ producing much fallout: said of nuclear weapons
  10. revealing anger or irritation a dirty look
  11. squally; rough dirty weather
  12. ☆ Slang rasping, reedy, rough, etc. in tone a dirty trumpet

Etymology: ME dritti

transitive verb, intransitive verb dirtied dirt′·ied, dirtying dirt′y·ing

to make or become dirty; soil; tarnish; stain

Related Forms:

dirty Idioms

a dirty shame

a very unfortunate circumstance

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms dirty idiom

dirty Synonyms

dirty

modif.

  1. Containing dirt

    soiled, unclean, filthy, grimy, unsanitary, unhygienic, polluted, foul, nasty, slovenly, dusty, undusted, messy, squalid, sloppy, untidy, lousy, disheveled, uncombed, unsightly, slatternly, bedraggled, disarrayed, straggly, unwashed, unkempt, stained, tarnished, spotted, smudged, fouled, infected, greasy, spattered, smutty, smutted, flyspecked, muddy, mucky, sooty, smoky, smoked, slimy, rusty, murky, dingy, unlaundered, unswept, unsalable, unpolished, crummy*, scrubby*, icky*, grubby*, raunchy*, scuzzy*, yucky*, scummy*. *

    Antonyms clean, sanitary, spotless, tidy.

  2. Obscene

    pornographic, smutty, lewd; see lewd 1, 2, ribald.

  3. Nasty

    mean, contemptible, disagreeable; see mean 1, 3, ruthless 1.

dirty is applied to that which is covered or filled with any kind of dirt and is the broadest of these terms a dirty face, a dirty room; ?soiled generally suggests the presence of superficial dirt in an amount sufficient to impair cleanness or freshness a soiled shirt; grimy suggests soot or granular dirt deposited on or ingrained in a surface a miner with a grimy face; filthy is applied to that which is disgustingly dirty filthy as a pigpen; foul implies extreme filth that is grossly offensive or loathsome because of its stench, putridity, or corruption foul air


dirty

v.

soil, sully, stain, defile, pollute, foul, encrust, coat, tarnish, spot, smear, daub, blot, blur, make dusty, blacken, smudge, smutch, smoke, muddy, drabble, draggle, heap dirt upon, botch, begrime, bedaub, spoil, speck, sweat up, blotch, spatter, besmear, befoul, splash, debase, corrupt, taint, contaminate, rot, decay, mold, make impure, muck up*.

Antonyms clean*, cleanse*, rinse.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

dirty Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • downright: Driving, funky and downright dirty, Zydeco will have you popping your fingers and shuffling your feet.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • leave: Landlords can deduct money from your deposit for professional cleaning if you have left the property dirty or untidy.

Modifies a noun

  • trick: At first he is content to play some dirty tricks on Matt in an effort to discredit him.

Used with adjective complement

  • get: They get somewhat dirty with lichen in the apple tree in a break in the weather.
dirty usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

dirty quotes

He is not a genuine foreign-grown savage; he is the ordinary home-made article.Dirty, ugly, disagreeableto all the senses, in body a common creature of the common streets, only in soul a Heathen. Homely filth begrimes him, homely parasites devour him, homely sores are in him, homely rags are on him: native ignorance, the growth of English soil and climate, sinks his immortal nature lower than the beasts that perish.

-Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

   A few professional alienists understood his importance, but to most of the public he appeared as some kind of German sexologist, an exponent of free love who used big words to talk about dirty things. At least a decade would have to pass before Freud would have his revenge and seehisideas beginto destroysex in America forever.

-Doctorow, E(dgar) L(awrence)

An annibaptist is a thing I am not a member of:öI am a Pisplikan just now & a Prisbeteren at Kercaldy my native town which thugh dirty is clein in the country.

-Fleming, Marjory

dirty quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"dirty." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
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dirty. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/dirty

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