nas|ty

nas|ty¹ «NAS tee, NAHS-», adjective, -ti|er, -ti|est, noun, plural -ties.

–adj.

1. disgustingly dirty; filthy: »

a nasty room, a nasty person.

SYNONYM(S): foul, squalid.

2. morally filthy; vile: »

a nasty word, a nasty mind.

SYNONYM(S): obscene, ribald, indecent.

3. offensive to smell or taste; nauseous: »

a nasty medicine.

SYNONYM(S): repulsive.

4. a) very unpleasant: »

cold, wet, nasty weather.

b) obnoxious; objectionable: »

He [Napoleon] was…no longer the embodied spirit of a world reborn; he was just a new and nastier sort of autocrat (H. G. Wells).

5. ill-natured; disagreeable (to another): »

a nasty remark, a nasty temper.

6. Figurative. rather serious; bad: »

a nasty problem, a nasty accident.

–n.

a nasty person or thing: »

They've always been around, the nasties—disguised as merely unpleasant people, as persons with hateful, mean, offensive characters (Canadian Saturday Night).

╂[Middle English nasty, nasky. Compare Dutch nestig dirty, dialectal Swedish naskug.]

nas|ty² «NAS tee, NAHS-», noun, plural -ties.

Botany. a tendency of a plant organ, such as a bud, petal, or leaf, to move in a direction determined especially by the nature and structure of the organ, rather than by external stimulus.

╂[< Greek nastós pressed together (< nássein squeeze, press close) + English -y³]