▪ I. naughty, a.
(ˈnɔːtɪ)
Also 4 nauȝty.
[f. naught n. + -y1.]
† 1. Having or possessing naught; poor, needy.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 226 Alle maner of men..That nedy ben and nauȝty, helpe hem with þi godis. Ibid. vii. 72 He wolde ȝiue þat an other, Þat were more nedy þan he [R. nedyer and nauȝtier]. |
2. † a. Of persons: Morally bad, wicked. Obs.
| 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 155/2 Origene..neither was a naughty man nor vnlerned in scripture. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1629) 129 A Prince of great courage and beauty, but fostered vp in bloud by his naughtie father. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 96 A most vile flagitious man, a sorry and naughty governor as could be. 1699 T. C[ockman] Tully's Offices (1706) 257 'Tis a villainous Error of some naughty Men. |
| absol. c 1580 Sidney Ps. xxxvii. xiv, The naughty borrowes, payeng not. |
b. Of children: Wayward, disobedient, given to doing wrong. Also playfully applied to older persons in mild reproach or disapproval. Also, naughty naughty: a reprimand used to a child; also used jocularly designating disapproval of something, spec. concerning sex.
| a 1633 G. Herbert Jacula Prudentum Wks. (1857) 309 A naughty child is better sick than whole. 1711 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 147 Go, get you gone, naughty girl, you are well enough. 1778 F. Burney Diary Sept. My sweet, naughty Mrs. Thrale looked delighted for me. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Baby's Debut v, O naughty Nancy Lake, Thus to distress your aunt..! 1865 Kingsley Herew. xix, They were the naughty young housecarles of his own troop. 1882 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 4 Nov. 10/1 Those naughty naughty parsons up and at it again. 1889 Sat. Rev. 23 Feb. 210/2 When a champion of Home Rule behaves like a very naughty child. 1938 I. Goldberg Wonder of Words viii. 150 To a child..we say, ‘Nightie-nightie’. Or, if it has been mischievous, ‘Naughty-naughty’. 1940 ‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 133 From a mere account of the subject-matter of Tropic of Cancer [by Henry Miller] most people would probably assume it to be no more than a bit of naughty-naughty left over from the 'twenties. 1946 ― Crit. Ess. 127 The naughty-naughty touches in Dali's autobiography. |
† c. Of an animal: Vicious. Obs. rare—1.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 130 An Ox of mine, being a naughty beast, through the default of mine owne fence, hath goared a Cow of your Worships. |
3. a. Of actions, conduct, places, things, etc.: Characterized by moral badness or wickedness; bad, wrong, blameworthy, improper. In mod. use as a term of mild or playful censure (cf. 2 b).
| 1536 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 38 Half of that whiche hath ben there rather spoyled from hym by naughty meanes. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 27 Naughtie and Pestilent bokes should be burned. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 77 It is a naughty house. 1620 Form Ordaining Min. in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844) 600 This naughtie world. a 1674 Clarendon Surv. Leviath. (1676) 207 This naughty and impious discourse. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) I. 31 I'm sure she would not do a naughty thing. 1740 W. Seward Jrnl. 3 To prepare us for going abroad into a naughty World. 1792 Burns Rights of Woman, A time, when rough rude man had naughty ways. 1861 Finlay Hist. Gk. Rev. I. i. iii. 74 Euphrosyne..had neglected the study of the lives of the saints, and turned her attention to the naughty reading in the Greek classics. 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. II. iv. 90 It was very naughty of her, she felt aware. 1884 World 20 Aug. 5/2 Democracy is a naughty word. |
| Comb. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 28 Certaine naughtie tongued fellowes vnder the maske of modestie saie they will not name him whom they reprehend. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iv. (1629) 432 For the naughty minded wretches. |
b. the naughty nineties (see quot. 1970).
| 1925 R. Le Gallienne Romantic '90s iv. 162 ‘The '90s’ are usually spoken of as if they had only one colour: the ‘yellow’ '90s, or the ‘naughty’ '90s, or the ‘decadent’ '90s. 1930 Sellar & Yeatman 1066 & All That lix. 111 Oscar Wilde..was the leader of a set of disgusting old gentlemen called ‘the naughty nineties’. 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 128 He is carrying us back into the nineties of last century..(today I note referred to as the ‘naughty nineties’!). 1939 Burlington Mag. Apr. 200/2 He was essentially a ‘naughty 'nineties’ figure. 1970 Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (rev. ed.) 748/1 Naughty Nineties, The, the 1890s in England, when the puritanical Victorian code of behaviour and conduct gave way in certain wealthy and fashionable circles to growing laxity in sexual morals, a growing cult of hedonism, and a more light-hearted approach to life. |
† 4. a. Bad, inferior, not up to the proper or usual standard or quality. Obs. (common c 1540–1650, in various applications.)
In quot. 1799 used in place of Sc. nochty, noughty.
| 1526 Tindale Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 510 As this is a naughty argument, so is the other. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 10 §2 Putting the same naughtie ware to sale secretly. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 24 Some put in naughty wool, and cause it to be spun and drawne into a very small thred. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. i. i. ii (1651) 412 Thou wilt not have bad coin, bad soil, a naughty tree, but all good. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. ¶19 If he meets with naughty Sheets..as torn, or stain'd, &c. he Prints them not. Ibid. 383 The Compositer will bow the Letter, and pop it into a Waste Box in the Case, where he puts all naughty Letters. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 245 There may happen to be a piece of naughty land,..whose barren appearance is an eyesore. |
| Comb. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 169 The vnfruitfull and naughtie coloured, and the otherwise faultie, ought cheefely to be fatted. |
b. Of articles of food or drink: Of bad quality, in bad condition. Now rare.
| 1535 Coverdale Jer. xxiv. 2 In the other maunds were very naughtie figes, which might not be eaten. 1584 Cogan Haven Health lii. (1636) 68 Garlick..is good for them that travaile..if they happen to drinke naughty corrupt water. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 103 Peccant humours..doe proceed of naughty meat. 1685 J. Chamberlayne Coffee, Tea & Choc. 43, I perceive, that it [tea] is commonly very old and naughty. 1896 A. D. Coleridge Eton in Forties 209 The bigaroon cherries..were fraudulent, sour, and naughty throughout. |
† c. Bad for something. Obs. rare—1.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 120 Ground grauellie, sandie, and mixed with clay, is naughtie for hops. |
† 5. Of weather: Bad, nasty. Obs. rare.
| 1541 Wyatt Def. Wks. (1861) p. xxiii, Coming in a boat from Aquas-Mortes, both in hazard of the Moors and naughty weather. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 116 Prithee Nunckle be contented, 'tis a naughtie night to swimme in. |
† 6. a. Bad in respect of health; unhealthy; connected with ill health. Obs.
| 1572 Abp. Parker Corr (Parker Soc.) 412 In better health than I in a naughty body feel. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 56 The juyce..draweth downe from the head phlegmatike and naughtie humors. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxxvi. 138 It heateth the bodie, ingendreth naughtie blood. 1656 Ridgley Pract. Physick 12 Then followeth a Feaver, and a Troup of most naughty symptoms. |
† b. Applied to bodily ailments, etc. Obs.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xiii. 21 Butter Burre..cureth all naughty Vlcers. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. iv. 9 They..do cause a rotten ulcer and naughty Scar. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cclxxxiii, Being mixed with Tar it cureth the naughty scurfe of the Head. |
† 7. Unpleasant, disagreeable. Obs. rare.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xxv. 176 Both in their leaves and floures of a naughtie, strong, and unpleasant savour. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. l. 324 Boxe in as much as it is of a naughtie smell,..is to be left of and not dealt withall. |
† 8. Inherently bad or faulty. Obs.
| 1554 Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 402 As with the good corn naughty cockle and barren weeds do spring together. 1580 Baret Alv. H 417 Naughtie poison [impia venena] is hid with sweete honie, or Sugar. 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. ii. xxiii. 142 Touching the Saltpeter.., its naughty humidity is to be taken from it. |
9. (For Sc. nochty.) Unsubstantial; insignificant.
| 1696 in Aubrey Misc. (1721) 211 A shadowy Substance, or such naughty, and Imperceptible thing, as can..scarcely be discerned by the Eye. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 521 The tenants..have a very few sheep of an inferior naughty size. |
▪ II. naughty, n.
(ˈnɔːtɪ)
[f. the adj.]
1. to do the naughty (slang): to behave in a sexually promiscuous way. Similarly to go naughty.
| 1869 F. Hall in D. Lyndesay Works iv. 498 The wealth of the prelates keeps our daughters unwedded. And some of them go naughty. 1902 Farmer & Henley Slang V. 20/2 Shop and working girls in large towns sometimes say they work for their living, but do the naughty for their clothes. 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 553/1 Naughty, do the, play the whore; to coït (of women only). |
2. Austral. and N.Z. colloq. or slang. (An act of) sexual intercourse. Hence as v. trans., to have sexual intercourse with.
| 1959 D. Niland Big Smoke vii. 169 The woman giggled... ‘Come on, what about it?’ Ocker shook his head, grinning. ‘I'd like to oblige, but I can't... It's in me contract, no leaving the job for a naughty.’ 1961 Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1195/2 Naughty, v.: To coït with... ‘He naughties her.’ 1962 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Oct. 793/4 Would you please whisper in the ear of the young lady who reviewed The Stuart Case in your issue of August 10 that ‘to have naughty’..is throughout the South Seas the polite and strict analogue of ‘to have sexual intercourse’. 1963 F. Hardy Legends from Benson's Valley 11, I smiled, remembering his oft-repeated remark: ‘I get a lot of knock backs but I get a lot of naughties.’ 1967 F. Sargeson Hangover vii. 55 He read: ‘We'll naughty anyone. No, not on your life, not after Coral.’ 1969 Private Eye 25 Apr. 12 What bloody fun have I had? Eight kiddies and two more on the way and I haven't even negotiated a naughty! |
▪ III. naughty, adv.
(ˈnɔːtɪ)
[f. naughty a.]
In a naughty or improper manner.
| 1898 J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 142 He looked a reg'lar dook. He'd a pair o' lavinder-coloured bell⁓bottom trowsis, cut werry naughty. 1919 Mencken Amer. Lang. 228 The child behaved naughty. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 441 Naughty cruel I was. |