naughty

adjective

naugh·​ty ˈnȯ-tē  ˈnä- 

naughtier; naughtiest

1

a

: guilty of disobedience or misbehavior

a naughty child

b

archaic : vicious in moral character : wicked

2

: lacking in taste or propriety

No naughty jokes in front of the children, please!

naughtily

ˈnȯ-tə-lē 

ˈnä-

adverb

naughtiness

ˈnȯ-tē-nəs 

ˈnä-

noun

Synonyms of naughty

• mischievous
• bad

Examples of naughty in a Sentence

She gave him a naughty smile.

told her to act her age and stop throwing temper tantrums like a naughty little girl

Recent Examples on the Web

John Quinones and Sara Haines see who’s naughty, who’s nice — and who’s caught in between. —Denise Petski, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025

Sabrina Carpenter pulled double duty as host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live this week, and one of her performances got a bit naughty. —Jillian Sederholm, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025

In a viral Reddit post, a naughty cat dipped his paws in pasta sauce turning his fur orange—now the stains won’t go away. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025

The naughty list People walk past the Macy’s Herald Square flagship store on November 29, 2024 in New York City. —Alex Harring, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English noughti, from nought

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Rhymes for naughty

• dotty
• doughty
• draughty
• haughty
• knotty
• potty
• scottie
• spotty
• strati
• zloty
• basmati
• bharati

Kids Definition

naughty

adjective

naugh·​ty ˈnȯt-ē 

ˈnät-

naughtier; naughtiest

: behaving badly or improperly

naughtily

ˈnȯt-ᵊl-ē 

ˈnät-

adverb

naughtiness

ˈnȯt-ē-nəs 

ˈnät-

noun