dirty

  • (a) soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
    • dirty unswept sidewalks
    • a child in dirty overalls
    • dirty slums
    • piles of dirty dishes
    • put his dirty feet on the clean sheet
    • wore an unclean shirt
    • mining is a dirty job
    • Cinderella did the dirty work while her sisters preened themselves
    soiled, unclean,
  • (a) (of behavior or especially language) characterized by obscenity or indecency
    • dirty words
    • a dirty old man
    • dirty books and movies
    • boys telling dirty jokes
    • has a dirty mouth
  • (s) vile; despicable
    • a dirty (or lousy) trick
    • a filthy traitor
    filthy, lousy,
  • (a) spreading pollution or contamination; especially radioactive contamination
    • the air near the foundry was always dirty
    • a dirty bomb releases enormous amounts of long-lived radioactive fallout
    contaminating,
  • (s) contaminated with infecting organisms
    • dirty wounds
    • "obliged to go into infected rooms"- Jane Austen
    pestiferous,
  • (s) (of color) discolored by impurities; not bright and clear
    • dirty" is often used in combination
    • a dirty (or dingy) white
    • the muddied grey of the sea
    • muddy colors
    • dirty-green walls
    • dirty-blonde hair
    muddied, dingy, muddy,
  • (s) (of a manuscript) defaced with changes
    • foul (or dirty) copy
    marked-up, foul,
  • (s) obtained illegally or by improper means
    • dirty money
    • ill-gotten gains
    ill-gotten,
  • (s) expressing or revealing hostility or dislike
    • dirty looks
  • (s) violating accepted standards or rules
    • a dirty fighter
    • used foul means to gain power
    • a nasty unsporting serve
    • fined for unsportsmanlike behavior
    unsporting, unsportsmanlike, cheating, foul,
  • (s) unethical or dishonest
    • dirty police officers
    • a sordid political campaign
    sordid,
  • (s) unpleasantly stormy
    • there's dirty weather in the offing

Verbs

Synonyms

soiled unclean begrime bemire colly grime soil filthy lousy contaminating pestiferous muddied dingy muddy marked-up foul ill-gotten unsporting unsportsmanlike cheating sordid

Antonyms

clean make clean unobjectionable uncontaminating

See also

untidy indecent

Words of close approximity

dire dirk dirt
Dirac Dirca dirge
dirty bomb dirty dog dirty-faced dirtying dirty joke dirty laundry dirty linen dirty-minded dirty money dirty old man dirty pool dirty story dirty trick dirty tricks dirty war dirty word