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Nasty vs Dreadful - What's the difference?

nasty | dreadful | Related terms |

Nasty is a related term of dreadful.


As adjectives the difference between nasty and dreadful

is that nasty is while dreadful is causing dread; very bad.

As nouns the difference between nasty and dreadful

is that nasty is (lb) something nasty while dreadful is a shocking or sensational crime.

nasty

English

Adjective

(er)
  • *
  • *2006 , Marie Fontaine, The Chronicles of my Ghetto Street Volume One , p. 156:
  • *:I really don't have any friends at school Mama Mia. They talk about me all the time. They say my hair's nappy and my clothes are nasty .
  • *{{quote-magazine, title=Towards the end of poverty
  • , date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty , brutish and short.}}
  • Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
  • *1897 , (Bram Stoker), Dracula :
  • *:Jonathan kept staring at him, till I was afraid he would notice. I feared he might take it ill, he looked so fierce and nasty .
  • Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.
  • *1838 , (Charles Dickens), Oliver Twist :
  • *:‘It's a nasty trade,’ said Mr. Limbkins, when Gamfield had again stated his wish.
  • Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd.
  • *1933 , (Dorothy L Sayers), Murder Must Advertise :
  • *:He said to Mr. Tallboy he thought the headline was a bit hot. And Mr. Tallboy said he had a nasty mind.
  • *2009 , Okera H, Be Your Priority, Not His Option , Mill City Press 2009, p. 45:
  • *:We want threesomes, blowjobs, and orgies. That's just the way it is. We want the good girl who's nasty in bed.
  • Spiteful, unkind.
  • *2012 , The Guardian , 3 Jun 2012:
  • *:She had said: "I love the block button on Twitter. I don't know how people expect to send a nasty comment and not get blocked."
  • *2007 , The Observer , 5 Aug 2007:
  • *:There was a nasty period during the First World War when the family's allegiance was called into question - not least because one of the Schroders had been made a baron by the Kaiser.
  • *2012 , James Ball, The Guardian , 2 Mar 2012:
  • *:Moving into the middle ages, William the Conqueror managed to rout the English and rule the country, then see off numerous plots and assassination attempts, before his horse did for him in a nasty fall, killing him at 60.
  • Noun

    (nasties)
  • (lb) Something nasty.
  • Processed foods are full of aspartame and other nasties .
    This video game involves flying through a maze zapping various nasties .
  • Sexual intercourse.
  • Derived terms

    * do the nasty * nastygram * video nasty

    Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l)

    dreadful

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (archaic) * (l) (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Causing dread; very bad.
  • * 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) Chapter 23
  • "My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, for Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than they were last, I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."
  • *, chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=Marc Higginson, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa , passage=After a dreadful performance in the opening 45 minutes, they upped their game after the break and might have taken at least a point from the match.}}

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "dreadful" is often applied: day, night, state, news, time, secret, storm, mistake, accident, story, dream, havoc, truth, loss, act, life, thought, creature, curse, suffering.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A shocking or sensational crime.
  • A shocking or sensational report of a crime.
  • Derived terms

    * penny dreadful

    References

    * (EtymOnLine)