different between severe vs nasty

English

Etymology

From Middle French, from Latin severus (“severe, serious, grave in demeanor”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /s??v??/ (US) IPA^(key): /s??v?r/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Adjective

severe (comparative severer or more severe, superlative severest or most severe)

1. Very bad or intense.
2. Strict or harsh.

   a severe taskmaster

3. Sober, plain in appearance, austere.

   a severe old maiden aunt

Synonyms

Antonyms

• (very bad or intense): mild
• (very bad or intense): minor
• (strict or harsh): lenient

Derived terms

• severely (adverb)
• severity (noun)
• severeness (noun)

Translations

Further reading

• severe in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• severe in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• severe at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Reeves, everse, reeves, servee

Esperanto

Adverb

severe

1. severely

Related terms

• severa

Italian

Adjective

severe

1. feminine plural of severo

Latin

Verb

s?v?re

1. third-person plural perfect active indicative of ser?

Adjective

sev?re

1. vocative masculine singular of sev?rus

References

• severe in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• severe in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• severe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

severe (Cyrillic spelling ??????)

1. vocative singular of sever

English

Etymology

From Middle English nasty, nasti, naxty, naxte (“unclean, filthy”), probably from Old Norse *nask- +? -y, whence also Early Modern English nasky (“nasty”). Compare Swedish naskig, naskug (“nasty, dirty, messy”), Swedish and Danish nasket (“dirty, foul, unpleasant”). Compare also Low German nask (“nasty”).

Alternative theories include:

• From Old French nastre (“bad, strange”), shortened form of villenastre (“infamous, bad”), from vilein (“villain”) + -astre (pejorative suffix), from Latin -aster.
• Middle Dutch nestich, nistich ("nasty, dirty, unpleasant"; > Modern Dutch nestig (“dirty, filthy, unclean”)), perhaps ultimately connected to the Scandinavian word above.
• Other suggestions include Old High German naz (“wet”), hardening of English nesh(y) (“soft”), or alteration of English naughty.
• Modern use of the word is sometimes attributed to the popular and often derogatory 19th century American political cartoons of Thomas Nast, but the word predates him.

Pronunciation

• (AusE) IPA^(key): /?na?.sti/
  • Rhymes: -??sti
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n??.sti/
  • Rhymes: -??sti
• (US) IPA^(key): /?næs.ti/
  • Rhymes: -æsti

Adjective

nasty (comparative nastier, superlative nastiest)

1. (now chiefly US) Dirty, filthy. [from 14th c.]
   • 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.

2. Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person). [from 15th c.]
   • 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.

3. Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive. [from 16th c.]
   • 1838, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist:

     ‘It's a nasty trade,’ said Mr. Limbkins, when Gamfield had again stated his wish.

4. Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd. [from 17th c.]
   • 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.

5. Spiteful, unkind. [from 19th c.]
   • 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."

6. (chiefly Britain) Awkward, difficult to navigate; dangerous. [from 19th c.]
   • 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.

7. (chiefly Britain) Grave or dangerous (of an accident, illness etc.). [from 19th c.]
   • 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.

8. (slang, chiefly US) Formidable, terrific; wicked. [from 20th c.]

Translations

Derived terms

• nastygram

Noun

nasty (plural nasties)

1. (informal) Something nasty.

2. (euphemistic, slang, preceded by "the") Sexual intercourse.
3. A video nasty.
   • 1984, ThirdWay (volume 7, number 5, page 17)

     In this way, it is hoped that the nasties will be dealt with, and the remainder regularized.

Derived terms

• do the nasty
• video nasty

References

Anagrams

• Ansty, Santy, Tansy, Yants, antsy, tansy