dirty
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɜːti/
ipa: /ˈdɝti/
ipa: [ˈdɝɾi]
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ti
Forms: form: dirtier
form: dirtiest
form: dorty
Etymology: From Middle English dirti, alteration of earlier dritti, equivalent to dirt + -y. Cognate with Middle Low German drēterich (“dirty”).
See also drite.
Senses: examples: text: Despite a walk in the rain, my shoes weren't too dirty.
text: Many persons are more comfortable when they are dirty than when they are clean; but that does not recommend dirt as a national policy.
ref: 1905, George Bernard Shaw, The author's apology from Mrs. Warren's Profession, page 61:
synonyms: word: filthy
word: soiled
word: sordid
word: unclean
word: unwashed
word: befouled
word: besmirched
word: clarty
word: cruddy
word: dirtsome
word: dirty
word: foul
word: grotty
word: grubby
word: horry
word: icky
word: manky
word: nasty
word: seamy
word: soiled
word: sordid
word: squalid
word: sullied
word: unclean
word: unwashed
word: yucky
antonyms: word: clean
word: unclean
glosses: Unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.
examples: text: Don't put that in your mouth, dear. It's dirty.
glosses: That makes one unclean; corrupting, infecting.
examples: text: At the reception, Uncle Nick got drunk and told dirty jokes to the bridesmaids.
text: We have quite a playful and fun relationship in general, but it’s still surprising how dirty our sex can be in the things we say or do or pretend. We often laugh about it afterwards.
ref: 2023 May 13, Kitty Drake, “This is how we do it: ‘A tired, throwaway midweek shag doesn’t interest me’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
synonyms: indecent
lewd
obscene
raunchy
salacious
glosses: Morally unclean; obscene or indecent, especially sexually.
examples: text: He might have scored, but it was a dirty trick that won him the penalty.
text: The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul.
ref: 1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:
text: The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable.[…]Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.
ref: 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
synonyms: cheating
foul
unsporting
unsportsmanlike
antonyms: sportsmanlike
glosses: Dishonorable; violating accepted standards or rules.
examples: text: I won't accept your dirty money!
synonyms: base
dishonest
dishonorable
filthy
despicable
lousy
mean
sordid
unethical
vile
glosses: Corrupt, illegal, or improper.
examples: text: You need to tune that guitar: the G string sounds dirty.
glosses: Out of tune.
examples: text: The old flag was a dirty white.
synonyms: dingy
dullish
muddied
muddy
antonyms: bright
pure
glosses: Of color, discolored by impurities.
examples: text: Occasionally it reads the sector into a dirty buffer, which means it needs to sync the dirty buffer first.
text: Notice that an asterisk has been added to the filename in the edit window tabs. This is a simple reminder that the file is “dirty” and needs saving.
ref: 2008, Stephen R. G. Fraser, Real World ASP.NET: Building a Content Management System, page 105:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Containing data needing to be written back to memory or disk.
examples: text: None of y'all get into my car if you're dirty.
glosses: Carrying illegal drugs among one's possessions or inside of one's bloodstream.
examples: text: He lives in a dirty great mansion.
glosses: Used as an intensifier, especially in conjunction with "great".
examples: text: dirty weather
text: Storms of wind, clouds of dust, an angry, dirty sea.
ref: 1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature:
text: Rain type 17 was a dirty blatter battering against his windscreen so hard that it didn't make much odds whether he had his wipers on or off.
ref: 1984, Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 8:
glosses: Sleety; gusty; stormy.
examples: text: dirty martini
antonyms: neat
glosses: Of an alcoholic beverage, especially a cocktail or mixed drink: served with the juice of olives.
examples: text: You can call it quick-and-dirty if you like, but there are billions of dollars out there riding on the supposition that fast food is not necessarily dirty food.
ref: 2003, Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, Perl Cookbook, page xix:
text: Dirty keto refers to an approach that follows the typical keto macro ratios, but the components include “dirty” foods like fast food, packaged convenience foods, processed meats, artificially sweetened diet sodas and sports drinks, and unhealthy […]
ref: 2020, Mellissa Sevigny, Squeaky Clean Keto: Next Level Keto to Hack Your Health, Victory Belt Publishing, →ISBN, page 13:
glosses: Of food, indulgent in an unhealthy way.
examples: text: Lardo in Portland, Oregon, serves "dirty fries" topped with fried rosemary, peppers, lardons, and Parmesan.
ref: 2016, Blake Lingle, Fries!: An Illustrated Guide to the World's Favorite Food, page 74:
text: Piled high and oozing all the trimmings, the dirty burgers here are decidedly good – spice things up with jalapeños, brie or a seriously sticky BBQ sauce.
ref: 2019, Oliver Berry, Fionn Davenport, Lonely Planet England:
glosses: Of food, covered in an array of indulgent toppings.
examples: text: a dirty explosion
text: a dirty bomb
glosses: Spreading harmful radiation over a wide area.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
antonyms: clean
glosses: Having the undercarriage or flaps in the down position.
glosses: Of an audio recording: containing unwanted noise.
topics: cellular-automata
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Producing much ash.
Derived terms: air one's dirty laundry in public
air one's dirty linen in public
bedirty
dirtily
dirtiness
dirtybadwrong
dirty blond
dirty blonde
dirty bomb
dirty bulk
dirty bulking
dirty business
dirty chai
dirty coal
dirty code
dirty dairying
dirty dance
dirty dancing
dirty down
dirty dozens
dirty feed
dirty finger
dirty float
dirty Gertie
dirty girl
dirty grease
dirty-handed
Dirty Harry
dirty ice cream
dirtyish
dirty joke
dirty kitchen
dirty laundry
dirty linen
dirty look
dirty magazine
dirty martini
dirty mind
dirty minded
dirty money
dirty mouth
dirty old man
dirty pillow
dirty pint
dirty pool
dirty power
dirty protest
dirty realism
dirty rice
dirty rush
dirty Sanchez
Dirty Shirley
dirty snowball
dirty soda
dirty talk
Dirty Thirties
dirty thunderstorm
dirty trick
Dirty War
dirty war
dirty washing
dirty weather
dirty weekend
dirty word
dirty work
dirty wound
do someone dirty
do the dirty on
down and dirty
filthy dirty
get one's hands dirty
get the dirty water off one's chest
nondirty
off like a dirty shirt
quick and dirty
quick-and-dirty
un-dirty
undirty
wash one's dirty laundry in public
wash one's dirty linen in public