nasty
/ˈnaː.sti/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.22 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
adj
Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.
Example Sentences
- "In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short."
- "I really don't have any friends at school Mama Mia. They talk about me all the time. They say my hair's nappy and my clothes are nasty."
- "Jonathan kept staring at him, till I was afraid he would notice. I feared he might take it ill, he looked so fierce and nasty."
- "‘It's a nasty trade,’ said Mr. Limbkins, when Gamfield had again stated his wish."
- "He said to Mr. Tallboy he thought the headline was a bit hot. And Mr. Tallboy said he had a nasty mind."
- "We want threesomes, blowjobs, and orgies. That's just the way it is. We want the good girl who's nasty in bed."
Etymology
From Middle English nasty, nasti, naxty, naxte (“unclean, filthy”), whence also Early Modern English nasky (“nasty”), of obscure origin. Probably from earlier Middle English *naskty, *naskedy, from Middle English *nasked (“dirty, messy”) + -y, ultimately of North Germanic origin (comparable to Danish nasket (“dirty, foul, unpleasant”), Swedish naskot (“dirty, filthy”), Swedish naskig, naskug (“nasty, dirty, messy”)), themselves all probably related to Proto-Germanic *hnaskuz (“tender, soft”). Likely doublet of nesh and nosh. Cognate with Scots nastie, nestie (“dirty, filthy”). Alternative theories have also been proposed, which include: * From Low German nask (“nasty”) + -y. * Middle Dutch nestich, nistich ("nasty, dirty, unpleasant" > Modern Dutch nestig (“dirty, filthy, unclean; lazy, cranky”)), perhaps ultimately connected to the Scandinavian word above, or related to *nest (“nest”). * From Old French nastre (“lowly, strange”), shortened form of villenastre (“infamous, bad”), from vilein (“villain”) + -astre (pejorative suffix), from Latin -aster. * Other suggestions include Old High German naz (“wet”), hardening of English nesh(y) (“soft”), or alteration of English naughty. * Modern use of the word is sometimes attributed to the popular and often derogatory 19th century American political cartoons of Thomas Nast, but the word predates him.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnaː.sti/
- British English: /ˈnɑː.sti/
Usage
- American usage
- British usage
- Slang
- Informal
- Transitive verb
Inflected Forms
nastier (comparative)
nastiest (superlative)
nasties (plural)
nasties (present, singular)
nastying (participle, present)
nastied (participle, past)
nastied (past)