Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Naughty

Naugh′ty

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Naughtier
;
sup
erl.
Naughtiest
.]
1.
Having little or nothing.
[Obs.]
[Men] that needy be and
naughty
, help them with thy goods.
Piers Plowman.
2.
Worthless; bad; good for nothing.
[Obs.]
The other basket had very
naughty
figs.
Jer. xxiv. 2.
3.
hence, corrupt; wicked.
[Archaic]
So shines a good deed in a
naughty
world.
Shakespeare
4.
Mischievous; perverse; froward; guilty of disobedient or improper conduct;
as, a
naughty
child
.
☞ This word is now seldom used except in the latter sense, as applied to children, or in sportive censure.

Definition 2024


naughty

naughty

English

Adjective

naughty (comparative naughtier, superlative naughtiest)

  1. Mischievous; tending to misbehave or act badly (especially of a child). [from 17th c.]
    Some naughty boys at school hid the teacher's lesson notes.
  2. Sexually provocative; now in weakened sense, risqué, cheeky. [from 19th c.]
    I bought some naughty lingerie for my honeymoon.
    If I see you send another naughty email to your friends, you will be forbidden from using the computer!
  3. (now rare, archaic) Evil, wicked, morally reprehensible. [from 15th c.]
    • 1623, William Shakespeare, First Folio, The Merchant of Venice:
      So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
    • 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica:
      Wholesome meats to a vitiated stomack differ little or nothing from unwholesome; and best books to a naughty mind are not unappliable to occasions of evill.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Udall:
      Such as be intemperant, that is, followers of their naughty appetites and lusts.
  4. (obsolete) Bad, worthless, substandard. [16th-19th c.]
    • (Can we date this quote?) American King James Bible, Jeremiah 24:2:
      One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • (immoral; cheeky): nice

Derived terms

Translations