1
as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
there was a natural nastiness about him that was evident from the time he was a small child
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grossness
the quality or state of being obscene
the nastiness of the graffiti required that the school remove it immediately
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in dustiness
the state or quality of being dirty
the piles of rotting food in the kitchen were only one element in the apartment's general impression of appalling nastiness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nastiness
Those guys have physicality, nastiness, speed, smarts.
—
Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2026
Perhaps because of the nastiness of the attacks, Wiener tends toward a knee-jerk dismissal of people who disagree with him on these issues.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026
After the uncompromising nastiness of 2007’s Margot at the Wedding and 2010’s Greenberg, Baumbach has allowed a little more light — though often just a little — to slip into his subsequent work, especially once Greta Gerwig came into his life as a favorite star and creative partner.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
In-state offensive tackle Maxwell Riley is impressive changing direction and finishes plays with the type of nastiness that will endear him to fans in Columbus.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Tracy’s dialogue, though absent the staccato non sequiturs of the director’s earlier work, has a bracing nastiness; every visual flourish and every menacing thrum of the score, by Jerskin Fendrix, escalates the intensity of Stone and Plemons’s bravura showdown.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
In this battle for reputation protection, no one’s a winner — including the audience who might just want to shower after all this nastiness and cruelty ends.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Released post-Columbine and heavily influenced by that tragedy, Scream 3 walks back from the gruesome violence and flashes of genuine nastiness that permeated the previous installments.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
No wonder a little nastiness surfaced at the fair when the Senate candidates took reporters’ questions.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2026
Perhaps because of the nastiness of the attacks, Wiener tends toward a knee-jerk dismissal of people who disagree with him on these issues.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026
After the uncompromising nastiness of 2007’s Margot at the Wedding and 2010’s Greenberg, Baumbach has allowed a little more light — though often just a little — to slip into his subsequent work, especially once Greta Gerwig came into his life as a favorite star and creative partner.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
In-state offensive tackle Maxwell Riley is impressive changing direction and finishes plays with the type of nastiness that will endear him to fans in Columbus.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Tracy’s dialogue, though absent the staccato non sequiturs of the director’s earlier work, has a bracing nastiness; every visual flourish and every menacing thrum of the score, by Jerskin Fendrix, escalates the intensity of Stone and Plemons’s bravura showdown.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
In this battle for reputation protection, no one’s a winner — including the audience who might just want to shower after all this nastiness and cruelty ends.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Released post-Columbine and heavily influenced by that tragedy, Scream 3 walks back from the gruesome violence and flashes of genuine nastiness that permeated the previous installments.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
No wonder a little nastiness surfaced at the fair when the Senate candidates took reporters’ questions.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nastiness
Noun
-
Colt Gray, now 16, has been indicted on 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder, according to court documents.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Nevermind that this is obviously the work of someone acting deliberately, stealthily and with obvious malice – not a drunk stumbling into their homes.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
He is charged with open and lewd grossness.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
-
In fact, plenty of other things in your home surpass the toilet in terms of grossness.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Mad Monarch of Mar-a-Lago is ridiculed worldwide as the babbling fool and face of Satan whose venom is deadly and far-reaching.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Then their own mother turned venom against them, the object of their wounding telling them that the shape of their wounds was never really there.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
One of Lamont’s unacknowledged strengths is his public composure and innate courtesy in an era when escalating vulgarity in politics shows an ugly American face to us and the world.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Hungerstone is a delicious tribute to the inherent horrors of womanhood and the desperate and exquisite vulgarity of desire.—
Gabrielle Bellot,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
An earnest, has-a-costume-for-everything kind of guy, Daub is allergic to the greige and the dinge.—
Sandra Upson,
Wired,
18 Jan. 2021
-
Dinges said the two crewmembers whose sleep remained steady -- even in the absence of conventional daylight -- were those who kept to a strict schedule and found other ways to control their biological clocks.—
Michael Nedelman,
CNN,
1 June 2017
Noun
-
What began as skepticism towards AI has curdled into a palpable AI hatred across the American workforce.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Given their hatred of Indigenous people, Casey and Frank set out to bring them back, a vengeance mission with echoes of The Searchers.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Using chemical imaging techniques, researchers attempted to determine whether the staining was intentional or accidental.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Similarly, mold that is not treated may spread into and through the wall or ceiling and causing new staining to appear months or even weeks later.—
Timothy Dale,
The Spruce,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Newspaper headlines screamed that Welch had called out McCarthy for his cruelty, his ruthlessness and his lies.—
Kristen Monroe,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Call it the cruelty of small differences.—
Catherine Bray,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nastiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nastiness. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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