Nasty vs. Dirty — What's the Difference?

Very bad or unpleasant

Covered or marked with an unclean substance

Behaving in an unpleasant or spiteful way

(of an activity) dishonest; dishonourable

Damaging or harmful

Concerned with sex in a lewd or obscene way

An unpleasant or harmful person or thing

(of weather) rough, stormy, and unpleasant.

Disgusting or repellent

(of a colour) not bright or pure; dull

Unpleasantly cold or wet

Used for emphasis

(Archaic) Dirty; filthy.

Make dirty

Morally offensive or indecent

Covered or marked with dirt or an unwanted substance; unclean.

Unpleasant or annoying

Spreading dirt; polluting

Mean or spiteful

Apt to soil with dirt or grime

Painful or dangerous; grave

Contaminated with bacteria or other infectious microorganisms.

Exasperatingly difficult to solve or handle

Squalid or filthy; run-down

One that is nasty

Obscene or indecent

Dirty, filthy.

Lewd or lecherous

Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).

Unethical or corrupt; sordid

Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.

Malicious or scandalous

Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd.

Not sportsmanlike

Spiteful, unkind.

Acquired by illicit or improper means

Awkward, difficult to navigate; dangerous.

(Slang) Possessing or using illegal drugs.

Grave or dangerous (of an accident, illness etc.).

Unpleasant or distasteful; thankless

Formidable, terrific; wicked.

Extremely unfortunate or regrettable

(informal) Something nasty.

Expressing disapproval or hostility

Sexual intercourse.

Not bright and clear in color; somewhat dull or drab. Often used in combination

A video nasty.

Relating to or being a bomb that uses a conventional explosive and radioactive material to contaminate an area with low-level radiation.

Offensively filthy; very dirty, foul, or defiled; disgusting; nauseous.

Relating to or being a nuclear weapon that produces a very great amount of long-lived radioactive fallout.

Hence, loosely: Offensive; disagreeable; unpropitious; wet; drizzling; as, a nasty rain, day, sky.

Stormy; rough

Characterized by obscenity; indecent; indelicate; gross; filthy.

To make soiled.

Vicious; offensively ill-tempered; insultingly mean; spiteful; as, a nasty disposition.

To stain or tarnish with dishonor.

Difficult to deal with; troublesome; as, he fell of his bike and got a nasty bruise on his knee.

To become soiled.

Offensive or even (of persons) malicious;

Unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.

Exasperatingly difficult to handle or circumvent;

That makes one unclean; corrupting, infecting.

Thoroughly unpleasant;

Morally unclean; obscene or indecent, especially sexually.

Characterized by obscenity;

Dishonourable; violating accepted standards or rules.

Disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter;

Corrupt, illegal, or improper.

Out of tune.

Of color, discolored by impurities.

(computing) Containing data needing to be written back to memory or disk.

(slang) Carrying illegal drugs among one's possessions or inside of one's bloodstream.

(informal) Used as an intensifier, especially in conjunction with "great".

Sleety; gusty; stormy.

(slang) Of an alcoholic beverage, especially a cocktail or mixed drink: served with the juice of olives.

Of food, indulgent in an unhealthy way.

Spreading harmful radiation over a wide area.

(aviation) Having the undercarriage or flaps in the down position.

In a dirty manner.

(transitive) To make (something) dirty.

(transitive) To stain or tarnish (somebody) with dishonor.

(transitive) To debase by distorting the real nature of (something).

(intransitive) To become soiled.

Defiled with dirt; foul; nasty; filthy; not clean or pure; serving to defile; as, dirty hands; dirty water; a dirty white.

Sullied; clouded; - applied to color.

Sordid; base; groveling; as, a dirty fellow.

Sleety; gusty; stormy; as, dirty weather.

To foul; to make filthy; to soil; as, to dirty the clothes or hands.

To tarnish; to sully; to scandalize; - said of reputation, character, etc.

Make soiled, filthy, or dirty;

Soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime;

(of behavior or especially language) characterized by obscenity or indecency;

Vile; despicable;

Spreading pollution or contamination; especially radioactive contamination;

Contaminated with infecting organisms;

(of color) discolored by impurities; not bright and clear;

(of a manuscript) defaced with changes;

Obtained illegally or by improper means;

Expressing or revealing hostility or dislike;

Violating accepted standards or rules;

Unethical or dishonest;

Unpleasantly stormy;