nasty
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Objectionable, unpleasant; repellent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nasteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnæsti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.
Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd.
Spiteful, unkind.
chiefly uk
Awkward, difficult to navigate; dangerous.
chiefly uk
Grave or dangerous (of an accident, illness etc.).
noun
A video nasty.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Tone
- Offensive
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
Used this way, nasty is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- lousy , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
- grotty , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nasty
- “There was a nasty smell coming from the garbage can.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: contemptible or unpleasant (of a person)
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.