undirty

See also: un-dirty

English

Alternative forms

• un-dirty

Etymology

From un- +‎ dirty.

Adjective

undirty (comparative undirtier, superlative undirtiest)

1. Not dirty.
   • 1753 March 9–16, The Derby Mercury, volume XXI, number 51, page 4:

     But I’ll be telling you, that on Monday laſt was publiſh’d a Parcel of NONSENSE, call’d, The MERRY LAD: Devil burn it my Dear, have nothing to ſay to it, for there are a Parcel of wicked Songs; undirty Catches; Odes; Country Dances; and ſeveral Odd Sayings, of a Queer Antiquated Quaker, call’d Warner Bennett.

   • 1886 December 9, “A Baking Powder Matter. More of the Albany Newspaper Investigation. The “Journal” Reaffirms and Emphasizes the Facts—Plain Talk from Prof. Tucker—His Opinion on Ammonia and Bread Risers Generally.”, in Fall River Daily Evening News‎^[1], volume XXVIII, number 167, Fall River, Mass.:

     It is particularly unfair for baking powder manufacturers to seek to pervert the truth, or prejudice the ignorant or unwary by statements that it is either harmful or undirty.

   • 1943 April 28, The Nashville Tennessean, volume 35, number 365, Nashville, Tenn., page four:

     UNDIRTY DIRT?

   • 1947 January 16, “Attention: married women with husbands: Strykers Granulated Soap does not do everything!”, in The Sacramento Bee, volume 179, number 29,113, Sacramento, Calif., page 16:

     Strykers Granulated SOAP WILL NOT make you sing “a glorious little washtub song.” But it will make things undirty quick. Like clothes and dishes.

   • 1950 November 9, “A Lady’s Complaint”, in The Post-Star, volume XLVI, number 300, Glens Falls, N.Y., page 4:

     Getting clothing dirty is a daily habit and whichever day one selects for getting it undirty will provide the same amount of toil.

   • 1953 July 5, Jerry Franken, “Behind Your TV Screen: ‘Today’ Is Right Up to the Minute”, in Sunday News, volume 33, number 10, New York, N.Y., page 21:

     Well, TV being what it is, it can’t use plain everyday dirt, the reason being—no kidding—that it looks too dirty on camera. As a result this commercial uses especially prepared dirt, treated with a dye to make it look like undirty dirt.

   • 1958 February 6, “‘Visit to a Small Planet’ Provides Happy Nonsense”, in Chester Times, 82nd year, number 58,049, Chester, Pa., page 34:

     His own most-successful effort proves his point—good lines, bright satire and un[-]dirty comedy are fine in themselves, but Mr. Ritchard makes them superb.

   • 1957 September 15, Bryant W. Pocock, “Dig out crazy language”, in The State Journal, Lansing—East Lansing, Mich., page 29:

     If a person is clean, he may not only be undirty; he may be well-proportioned or trim.

   • 1960 December 12, Nashville Banner, volume LXXXIV, number 210, Nashville, Tenn., page 2:

     UNDIRTY— Sign on laundry truck: “Let Us Help You Lead a Clean Life.”

   • 1963 July 28, Art Seidenbaum, “Anaheim: Home of Disneyland and Survival”, in Los Angeles Times Calendar, page nine:

     What if Disney cannot go along with the program? Then use his name if possible. Then get a man like him to do the undirty work.

   • 2008, Callaloo, page 766:

     That night, I crash-landed at his place. It was undirtier than I’d forgotten.

Verb

undirty (third-person singular simple present undirties, present participle undirtying, simple past and past participle undirtied)

1. To make not dirty.
   • 1950 October 9, Bristol Virginia-Tennessean, volume 1, number 280, Bristol, Va., page 6:

     Cleaning Clothes is our business and the dirtier they get, the more we enjoy undirty-ing them; the bigger the job, the more spectacular the result.

   • 1959 June 6, The Courier-Journal, volume 209, number 157, Louisville, Ky., section 2, page 2:

     shame on you, mitey··just look at your clothes! / it’s natural for babies to get their clothes dirty, teeny / and it’s natural to un-dirty ’em with lestoil isn’t it, mom?

   • 1968 November 2, Bud Gentry, “Carpets Today”, in Decatur Daily Review, volume 91, number 260, Decatur, Ill., page eight:

     A carpet care specialist can quickly and inexpensively un-dirty carpets that have been workked over by experts.

   • 1997, Richard Howard, Bonaparte’s Sons: An Alain Lausard Adventure, Canelo, published 2018, →ISBN:

     His uniform was undirtied by the dust of the roads, his boots sparkling; even his spurs glinted.

   • 2020, Tracy O’Neill, “Obelus”, in Quotients, Soho Press, →ISBN, page 75:

     Wright reached over the table, flicked a speck of something from Jeremy’s collar. […] Jeremy inspected the collar Wright had undirtied.

Related terms

• undirtied