# natty
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈnæti/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
    Rhymes: -æti

### Etymology 1

Originally slang, perhaps related to natural.

#### Adjective

natty (comparative nattier, superlative nattiest)
* (informal) Smart and fashionable. [from late 18th c.]
** 1997, David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch keeps his head”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:Anyway, while the creepy-video thing is under way there are also some scenes of Pullman looking very natty and East Village in all-black and jamming on his tenor sax in front of a packed dance floor (only in a David Lynch movie would people dance ecstatically to abstract jazz), […]
** 2025 January 28, Cameron Joseph, “Meet Mitt Romney’s replacement – who could make or break the Trump agenda”, in The Christian Science Monitor:A natty dresser, especially by congressional standards, Mr. Curtis has turned his penchant for bright socks into an ice-breaker that he says helps constituents feel comfortable in approaching him.

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Variant of knotty.

#### Adjective

natty (comparative nattier, superlative nattiest)
* (Jamaica, slang) Knotty.
    natty dreadlocks

### Etymology 3

Clipping of natural +‎ -y.

#### Alternative forms

* nattie

#### Adjective

natty (comparative more natty, superlative most natty)
* (slang, sports, particularly bodybuilding) Natural, as opposed to steroid enhanced.
    natty gains

##### Translations
#### Noun

natty (plural natties)
* (slang, sports, particularly bodybuilding) Someone whose muscle gains are natural and not aided by the use of steroids.

##### Translations
### Etymology 4

Clipping of national +‎ -y.

#### Alternative forms

* nattie

#### Adjective

natty (comparative more natty, superlative most natty)
* (slang) National.

#### Noun

natty (plural natties)
* (slang, sports) A national championship.
    I hope my favorite team makes it to the natty this season.

### References

* 1 2 “natty”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Anagrams

* tanty

## Jamaican Creole
### Etymology

From English knotty.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈnatɪ/
* Hyphenation: na‧tty

### Noun

natty (plural natty dem, quantified natty)
* Abbreviation of natty dreadlocks.

### Adjective

natty
* dreadlocked, knotty, nappy
    What a way yuh 'ead natty. ― Your hair's so nappy.
** 2010, Mel Cooke, “Mid-90s Rasta revolution withers”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎ (in Jamaican Creole):“Natty natty pon head, picky picky dung a chin. […] ”Dreadlocked with a scruffy beard. […]

### Verb

natty
* to grow dreadlocks; to grow locks
    'Im natty up him head. ― He's grown his locks.
** 2014, Gordon Robinson, “Tainted morality”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎ (in English):“By his deeds shall a man be known Natty up your head and worship Babylon throne […] ”By his deeds shall a man be known You've grown dreadlocks but you're still a slave to the system […]

#### Derived terms

* natty dread
* natty dreadlocks

### Further reading

* Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 401
* natty – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary