nasty

adjective

nas·ty ˈna-stē

nastier; nastiest

: disgustingly filthy

nasty living conditions

: physically repugnant

a nasty taste

: indecent, obscene

nasty language

: mean, tawdry

living a cheap and nasty life

G. B. Shaw

: extremely hazardous (see hazardous sense 1) or harmful

a nasty undertow

: causing severe pain or suffering

a nasty wound

a nasty fall

: sharply unpleasant : disagreeable

nasty weather

: difficult to understand or deal with

a nasty problem

a nasty curveball

: psychologically unsettling : trying

a nasty fear that she was lost

: lacking in courtesy or sportsmanship

a nasty trick

nastily

ˈna-stə-lē

adverb

nastiness

ˈna-stē-nəs

noun

nasty noun

Choose the Right Synonym for nasty

dirty, filthy, foul, nasty, squalid mean conspicuously unclean or impure.

dirty emphasizes the presence of dirt more than an emotional reaction to it.

a dirty littered street

filthy carries a strong suggestion of offensiveness and typically of gradually accumulated dirt that begrimes and besmears.

a stained greasy floor, utterly filthy

foul implies extreme offensiveness and an accumulation of what is rotten or stinking.

a foul-smelling open sewer

nasty applies to what is actually foul or is repugnant to one expecting freshness, cleanliness, or sweetness.

it's a nasty job to clean up after a sick cat

In practice, nasty is often weakened to the point of being no more than a synonym of unpleasant or disagreeable.

had a nasty fall

his answer gave her a nasty shock

squalid adds to the idea of dirtiness and filth that of slovenly neglect.

squalid slums

All these terms are also applicable to moral uncleanness or baseness or obscenity.

dirty then stresses meanness or despicableness

don't ask me to do your dirty work

, while filthy and foul describe disgusting obscenity or loathsome behavior

filthy street language

a foul story of lust and greed

, and nasty implies a peculiarly offensive unpleasantness.

a stand-up comedian known for nasty humor

Distinctively, squalid implies sordidness as well as baseness and dirtiness.

engaged in a series of squalid affairs

Example Sentences

She has a nasty habit of biting her fingernails. The medicine left a nasty taste in my mouth. That nasty old man yelled at me just for stepping on his lawn! He sent a nasty letter to the company. She's got quite a nasty temper. He said lots of downright nasty things about her. She called him a few nasty names and left. See More

Recent Examples on the Web Jones comes over for dinner, Chapel gets nasty, Jones turns the table over and absconds with the missus.

John Anderson, WSJ, 1 Dec. 2022 Wealthy nations also have a nasty habit of exporting their plastic waste to economically developing nations, where the stuff is often burned in open pits, poisoning surrounding communities.

WIRED, 29 Nov. 2022 But chef, food writer, and YouTube star Sohla El-Waylly is the show’s MVP, dispensing blunt, pithy, yet never nasty feedback that reflects her own high culinary standards rather than any desire to humiliate the lovable cast.

Time, 29 Nov. 2022 It's typically used to treat gastrointestinal issues like heartburn, but research has shown that licorice root has antimicrobial and antiviral qualities which could help in getting over a nasty cold.

Marisa Cohen, Good Housekeeping, 28 Oct. 2022 These little gunk-suckers are powered by salicylic acid to penetrate pimples and a hydrocolloid barrier to adsorb all the nasty stuff.

Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 17 Oct. 2022 So check me out: never a naked picture, never any of that nasty stuff.

Katcy Stephan, Variety, 14 Oct. 2022 And all the nasty stuff that was in the underbelly of American politics got a voice.

Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 20 June 2022 In baseball, a lot of nasty stuff comes out of the other dugout.

Carl Erskine, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nasty.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.