nasty
Meaning
-
- Dirty, filthy.
- Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
- Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.
- Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd.
- Spiteful, unkind.
- Awkward, difficult to navigate; dangerous.
- Grave or dangerous (of an accident, illness etc.).
- (slang) Formidable, terrific; wicked.
Synonyms
poignant
trenchant
be bad
weary of
not nice
commixtion
coition
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈnaː.sti/
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. * From Old French nastre (“bad, strange”), shortened form of villenastre (“infamous, bad”), from vilein (“villain”) + -astre (pejorative suffix), from Latin -aster. * 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”). * 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.
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