dirty

adjective

/ˈdɜːti/

/ˈdɜːrti/

(comparative dirtier, superlative dirtiest)

Idioms

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not clean

Synonyms dirtydirty

These words all describe somebody/something that is not clean.

dirty
not clean; covered with dust, soil, mud, oil, etc:
- If your hands are dirty, go and wash them.
dusty
full of dust; covered with dust:
- There were shelves full of dusty books.
filthy
very dirty and unpleasant:
- It’s absolutely filthy in here.
muddy
full of or covered in mud:
- Don’t you come in here with those muddy boots on!
soiled
(rather formal) dirty, especially with waste from the body:
- soiled nappies/diapers
grubby
(rather informal) rather dirty, usually because it has not been washed:
- He hoped she wouldn’t notice his grubby shirt cuffs.
stained
(often in compounds) covered with stains; marked with a stain (= a dirty mark that is difficult to remove):
- a pair of paint-stained jeans

Patterns

Extra Examples

Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs

adverb

See full entry

[usually before noun] connected with sex in an offensive way

[usually before noun] (informal) unpleasant or dishonest

That's a dirty lie!
They discovered her dirty little secret.
She's a dirty player.
He's a great man for doing the dirty jobs (= jobs which are unpleasant because they involve being dishonest or mean to people).
You dirty liar!

[only before noun] not bright

(North American English, slang) using illegal drugs

Idioms

air/wash your dirty laundry/linen in public

(disapproving) to discuss your personal affairs in public, especially something embarrassing

(do somebody’s) dirty work

(to do) the unpleasant or dishonest jobs that somebody else does not want to do
- Next time you can get somebody else to do your dirty work for you!
- He always gets someone else to do the dirty work for him.
- The drugs gang used children to do their dirty work for them.

do the dirty on somebody

(British English, informal) to cheat somebody who trusts you; to treat somebody badly or unfairly
- I'd never do the dirty on my friends.

down and dirty (North American English, informal)

behaving in an unfair or aggressive way, especially because you want to win
- The candidate again got down and dirty with his rival.
- The online campaign was getting down and dirty.
rude and making you feel shocked
- The singer got down and dirty at the club last night and made headlines again.
- The singers are a down-and-dirty duo from Ohio.

Alliteration in idioms

get your hands dirty

give/shoot somebody a dirty look