different between improper vs smutty

English

Alternative forms

• impropre (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French impropre, from Latin improprius (“not proper”), from in- + proprius (“proper”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?p??p.?/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?m?p??p.?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?p??.p?/
• Rhymes: -?p?(?)

Adjective

improper (comparative more improper, superlative most improper)

1. unsuitable to needs or circumstances; inappropriate; inapt
2. Not in keeping with conventional mores or good manners; indecent or immodest
3. Not according to facts; inaccurate or erroneous
4. Not consistent with established facts; incorrect
5. Not properly named; See, for example, improper fraction
6. (obsolete) Not specific or appropriate to individuals; general; common.
   • 1608, John Fletcher The Faithful Shepherdess

     Not to be adorned with any art but such improper ones as nature is said to bestow, as singing and poetry.

Synonyms

• unproper (obsolete or rare)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

improper (third-person singular simple present impropers, present participle impropering, simple past and past participle impropered)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To appropriate; to limit.
   • 1565, John Jewel, letter to Thomas Harding

     He would in like manner improper and inclose the sunbeams to comfort the rich and not the poor.

2. (obsolete) To behave improperly

Anagrams

• impropre

English

Etymology

From smut +? -y. Related to German schmutzig (“filthy, dirty, smutty”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sm?ti/

Adjective

smutty (comparative smuttier, superlative smuttiest)

1. Soiled with smut; blackened, dirty.
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 62:

     She caught up the corner of her skirt and lifted the smutty coffee-pot from the stove.

2. Obscene, indecent.
   • Episode 12, The Cyclops

     And what was it only one of the smutty yankee pictures Terry borrows off of Corny Kelleher. Secrets for enlarging your private parts.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, p. 178, [1]

     Prayter said with a smile to the faces looking down, "Rilly—this train's a joke, isn't it!"

     A wag yelled, "Yes—a smutty one!"

     With raucous laughter in his ears, the parson turned and looked for Lace, feeling rather lonely.

3. Affected with the smut fungus.

Translations

Verb

smutty (third-person singular simple present smutties, present participle smuttying, simple past and past participle smuttied)

1. (transitive) To make dirty; to soil.