# salty

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsɒl.ti/ · frequency rank #10,605

## Definitions
1. Tasting of salt.
2. Containing salt.
3. Coarse; provocative; earthy.
4. Experienced, especially used to indicate a veteran of the naval services; salty dog (from salt of the sea).
5. Irritated, annoyed, angry, bitter.
6. Pertaining to the Sardinian language and those dialects of Catalan, spoken in the Balearic Islands and along the coast of Catalonia, that use definitive articles descended from the Latin ipse (“self”) instead of the Latin ille (“that”).

## Etymology
PIE word
 *séh₂ls
From Middle English salti, equivalent to salt + -y.
Compare Saterland Frisian soaltig (“salty”), West Frisian sâltich (“salty”), Dutch zoutig (“salty”), German Low German soltig (“salty”), German salzig (“salty”).
(coarse; irritated, annoyed): Referencing the sharp, 'spicy' flavor of salt.
(indignant): Perhaps implying the person is a crybaby, shedding salty tears, or derived from the preceding.

## Easily confused with
- **say** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-say)
- **sat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sat)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sly)
- **slay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-slay)
- **SATA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sata)
- **Sato** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sato)
- **silt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-silt)
- **Sant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sant)
- **sate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sate)
- **Santa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-santa)
- **silly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-silly)
- **sandy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sandy)
- **sixty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sixty)
- **Sammy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sammy)
- **savvy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-savvy)
- **santo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-santo)
- **shalt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-shalt)
- **silky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-silky)
- **sassy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sassy)
- **sully** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salty-vs-sully)

## Common misspellings (8)
`aslty`, `sallty`, `saltty`, `saltyy`, `salyt`, `satly`, `slaty`, `ssalty`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/salty