nastyadjective
uk/ˈnɑː.sti/us/ˈnæs.ti/B1 bad or very unpleasant:
a nasty shock/surprise
There's a nasty smell in here.
He had a nasty cut above the eye.
She has a nasty habit of picking on people in meetings.
B1 unkind:
Don't be so nasty to your brother - he's four years younger than you!
B2 mainly UK dangerous or violent:
In an emergency you could get out through a window, but it would be a nasty drop.
The situation could turn (= become) nasty at any moment.
rude or offensive:
She said some really nasty things about him.
have a nasty feeling
mainly UK to think that something bad is likely to happen or to be true:
I've got a nasty feeling that I forgot to tell Joe I couldn't come.
More examples
- Emily has a very nasty cough.
- You could get a nasty shock from that water heater if it isn't earthed properly.
- He had a nasty fall and hurt his back.
- He's a nasty little man.
- I hope he's not going to spring any nasty surprises on us at the meeting this morning.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Serious and unpleasant
- abominable
- abysmal
- apocalyptic
- appalling
- awfully
- belief
- corrosive
- grim
- grisly
- grotesque
- gruesome
- hate
- noxious
- revolting
- rotten
- shitty
- shocking
- shockingly
- stinking
- wretched
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Unkind, cruel & unfeeling
Dangers and threats
Predicting things and intuition
nastily
adverb uk/ˈnɑː.stəl.i/us/ˈnæs.təl.i/
He laughed nastily (= unkindly) and walked away.
nastiness
noun [ U ] uk/ˈnɑː.sti.nəs/us/ˈnæs.ti.nəs/
Idiom(s)
a nasty piece of work