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nasty Definition

nasty (nas)

adjective -·tier, -·ti·est

  1. very dirty, filthy
  2. offensive in taste or smell; nauseating
  3. morally offensive; indecent
  4. very unpleasant; objectionable nasty weather
  5. mean; malicious; ill-humored a nasty temper
  6. very harmful or troublesome a nasty bruise

Etymology: ME < ? or akin to Du nestig, dirty

noun pl. -·ties

an offensive, objectionable, or very unpleasant person or thing

nasty Related Forms

nas·tily adverb nas·ti·ness noun

nasty Synonyms

nasty

modif.

  1. Offensive to the senses

    dirty, foul, gross, revolting; see offensive 2, vulgar 1.

  2. Indecent

    immoral, immodest, smutty; see lewd 1, 2, shameful 1, wicked 1.

  3. Likely to be harmful

    injurious, damaging, noxious; see dangerous 1, fierce 2, harmful, poisonous.

  4. Unkind

    sarcastic, critical, mean; see cruel 1, fierce 1, ruthless 1.

nasty Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • downright: She is downright nasty to those who disagree with her views.
  • particularly: A particularly nasty strain of the virus can make normally healthy people very ill.
  • rather: All I needed was some something to relieve the pain from some rather nasty mosquito bites I have acquired.
  • pretty: He comes across as a pretty nasty guy with very few redeeming features.
  • thoroughly: She may be, as I am told, a thoroughly nasty piece of work.
  • potentially: Avoid the animal's breath, as it may carry some potentially nasty bacteria.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • get: Of course, before we get a bit too nasty we should probably take a look at the memory first.
  • make: The blue cast this causes alters even the true appearance of other colors in your photo, which makes this side effect particularly nasty.
  • look: My only criticism is that the artwork looks a bit nasty.

Modifies a noun

  • surprise: Floating into a corner booth, he got a very nasty surprise.
  • shock: AOL provides tips and advice to help you avoid a nasty shock from your phone bill.
  • habit: You can also improve your personal hygiene by stopping any nasty habits like biting your nails or picking your nose.
  • gash: They must have found a way through. ' Digger lifted his smock to reveal a nasty gash that ran several inches along his waist.
  • bug: Or there happened to be some nasty bug " floating around " the moment they turned the machine on.
  • sting: Watch out for the fire corals in shallow water these creamy tan or mustard colored corals can give a nasty sting.

Used with adjective complement

  • turn: Stop borrowing or we'll turn really nasty " .
  • taste: Except don't, because it tastes very nasty.
  • get: Worse, Aubrey started to get nasty with CBS ' roster of stars.
  • look: The picture quality is excellent, a vast improvement on the VHS release which looked rather nasty at times.
  • smell: Not only did she smell nasty, she died.

Browse dictionary entries near nasty

  1. nasturtium
  2. -nastic
  3. nastic
  4. Nast
  5. Nasser
  6. Nassau
  7. nasopharynx
  8. nasogastric
  9. nasofrontal
  10. naso-
  1. -nasty
  2. nat
  3. natal
  4. Natalie
  5. natality
  6. natant
  7. natation
  8. natatorial
  9. natatorium
  10. natch