nasty

adjective

nas·​ty ˈna-stē 

nastier; nastiest

1

a

: disgustingly filthy

nasty living conditions

b

: physically repugnant

a nasty taste

2

: indecent, obscene

nasty language

3

: mean, tawdry

living a cheap and nasty life

—G. B. Shaw

4

a

: extremely hazardous (see hazardous sense 1) or harmful

a nasty undertow

b

: causing severe pain or suffering

a nasty wound

a nasty fall

c

: sharply unpleasant : disagreeable

nasty weather

5

a

: difficult to understand or deal with

a nasty problem

a nasty curveball

b

: psychologically unsettling : trying

a nasty fear that she was lost

6

: lacking in courtesy or sportsmanship

a nasty trick

nastily

ˈna-stə-lē 

adverb

nastiness

ˈna-stē-nəs 

noun

nasty noun

Synonyms

• dirty
• pitiful
• lame
• cheap
• wretched
• hateful
• disgusting
• mean
• vile
• sorry

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

Examples of nasty in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples on the Web

Sean Gardner/Getty Images This comes just weeks after Zilisch suffered a nasty fall from his car in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen, which resulted in a broken collarbone. —Lydia Mee, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025

Parents pushing, people cutting lines, nasty attitudes everywhere, especially outside and in Sephora. —Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025

Bukauskas knocked Craig out cold with a nasty elbow from top position just before the horn. —Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025

Still one of the NFL’s nastiest division rivalries, the game was full of skirmishes and a near-costly unnecessary roughness penalty late in the third against the Eagles that put the Cowboys in position to take the lead. —Dan Gelston, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English

First Known Use

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

Phrases Containing nasty

• a nasty piece of work
• video nasty

Rhymes for nasty

• costae
• pasty
• angioplasty
• keratoplasty
• arthroplasty

Kids Definition

nasty

adjective

nas·​ty ˈnas-tē 

nastier; nastiest

1

: very dirty or foul : filthy

2

: morally disgusting or degrading

3

: disagreeable sense 1, unpleasant

nasty weather

4

: spiteful, ill-natured

a nasty temper

a nasty trick

5

: harmful, dangerous

a nasty fall on the ice

nastily

-tə-lē 

adverb

nastiness

-tē-nəs 

noun