naughty

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English

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Etymology

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From late Middle English noughti, naughty (evil, immoral, wicked),[1] from nought (evil, immoral)[2] + -ī̆ (suffix forming adjectives).[3] Analysable as naught +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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naughty (comparative naughtier, superlative naughtiest)

  1. Mischievous; tending to misbehave or act badly (especially of a child). [from 17th c.]
    Some naughty boys at school hid the teacher's lesson notes.
  2. Sexually provocative; now in weakened sense, risqué, cheeky. [from 19th c.]
    I bought some naughty lingerie for my honeymoon.
    If I see you send another naughty email to your friends, you will be forbidden from using the computer!
  3. (now rare, archaic) Evil, wicked, morally reprehensible. [from 15th c.]
  4. (obsolete) Bad, worthless, substandard. [16th–19th c.]
    • 1542, Andrew Boorde, The First Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge:
      In Cornwall is two speches, the one is naughty Englysshe, and the other is Cornysshe speche.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Jeremiah 24:2:
      One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Alternative forms

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Synonyms

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Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of immoral; cheeky): nice

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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naughty (third-person singular simple present naughties, present participle naughtying, simple past and past participle naughtied)

  1. To perform sexual acts upon.

References

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  1. ^ noughtī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ nought, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ -ī̆, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.