dirty

 
Pronunciation: /ˈdəːti/

adjective (dirtier, dirtiest)

  • 1covered or marked with an unclean substance: a tray of dirty cups and saucers her boots were dirty
  • causing a person or place to become unclean: farming is a hard, dirty job
  • (of a nuclear weapon) producing considerable radioactive fallout.
  • 2(of an activity) dishonest; dishonourable: he had a reputation for dirty dealing
  • US informal using illegal drugs.
  • [attributive] informal used to emphasize one’s disgust for someone or something: you dirty rat!
  • 3concerned with sex in a lewd or obscene way: he told a stream of dirty jokes
  • 4(of weather) rough, stormy, and unpleasant.
  • 5(of a colour) not bright or pure; dull: the sea was a waste of dirty grey
  • (of popular music) having a distorted or rasping tone: Nirvana’s dirty guitar sound

adverb

[as submodifier] British informal
  • used for emphasis: a dirty great slab of stone

verb (dirties, dirtying, dirtied)

[with object]
  • make dirty: she didn’t like him dirtying her nice clean towels

Phrases

the dirty end of the stick

informal the difficult or unpleasant part of a task or situation.

do the dirty on someone

British informal cheat or betray someone.

get one's hands dirty (or dirty one's hands)

do manual, menial, or other hard work.
informal become involved in dishonest or dishonourable activity.

play dirty

informal act in a dishonest or unfair way.

talk dirty

informal talk about sex in a coarse or salacious way.

Derivatives

dirtily

adverb

dirtiness

noun