nasty
/ˈnaː.sti/
"nasty" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nasty” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,966. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,966
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dirty, filthy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nasty · nasty · English
nasty · rank #4,966 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,966
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH motivation
Nearest frequency peer: motivation (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “nasty”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- magical
magical
95,038 corpus weight
- Mills
Mills
95,037 corpus weight
- motivation
motivation
95,036 corpus weight
- nasty
nasty
95,035 corpus weight
- Oliver
Oliver
95,034 corpus weight
- outfit
outfit
95,033 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “nasty” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nasty |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈnaː.sti/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,966 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nasty” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around nasty (IPA /ˈnaː.sti/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,966 among 1,534 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for nasty, with forms such as "ansty", "nassty", and "nastty". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Nat", "nay", "navy", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English nasty, nasti, naxty, naxte (“unclean, filthy”), whence also Early Modern English nasky (“nasty”), of obscure origin. Probably from earlier Middle English *naskty, *naskedy, from Middle English *nasked (“dirty, messy”) + -y, ultimately of… The correct English form is nasty, spelled N-A-S-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Dirty, filthy.
- 2Contemptible, unpleasant (of a person).
- 3Objectionable, unpleasant (of a thing); repellent, offensive.
- 4Indecent or offensive; obscene, lewd.
- 5Spiteful, unkind.
- 6Awkward, difficult to navigate; dangerous.
- 7Grave or dangerous (of an accident, illness etc.).
- 8Formidable, terrific; wicked.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nasty appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Ti…
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.
Etymology
From Middle English nasty, nasti, naxty, naxte (“unclean, filthy”), whence also Early Modern English nasky (“nasty”), of obscure origin. Probably from earlier Middle English *naskty, *naskedy, from Middle English *nasked (“dirty, messy”) + -y, ultimately of North Germanic origin (comparable to Danish nasket (“dirty, foul, unpleasant”), Swedish naskot (“dirty, filthy”), Swedish naskig, naskug (“nasty, dirty, messy”)), themselves all probably related to Proto-Germanic *hnaskuz (“tender, soft”). Likely doublet of nesh and nosh. Cognate with Scots nastie, nestie (“dirty, filthy”). Alternative theories have also been proposed, which include: * From Low German nask (“nasty”) + -y. * Middle Dutch nestich, nistich ("nasty, dirty, unpleasant" > Modern Dutch nestig (“dirty, filthy, unclean; lazy, cranky”)), perhaps ultimately connected to the Scandinavian word above, or related to *nest (“nest”). * From Old French nastre (“lowly, strange”), shortened form of villenastre (“infamous, bad”), from vilein (“villain”) + -astre (pejorative suffix), from Latin -aster. * 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.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ansty
- nassty
- nastty
- nastyy
- nasyt
- natsy
- nnasty
- nsaty
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nasty - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nasty", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "nasty". Here's where to go from here.
- "nasty" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Nat". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #4,966 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "N" letter cohort. N–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.