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dirtily

dirtily

1 1.8
In a way that is not clean, fair, or polite
  • adverb
  • /ˈdɜːrtɪli/
translation icon : suciosamente
  • He examined the dirtily stained carpet and sighed at the mess.

Examples

  • She wiped her hands dirtily on her jeans after handling the messy paint.

  • (Brock) I plan to play as dirtily and ruthlessly as you.

  • [Grunting dirtily]

  • Their color bearer wore a silver wig, piled up like a pyramid, with curls falling over her forehead, and the train of her satin dress dragged dirtily along the asphalt.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The children played outside, rolling around in the mud dirtily.

Synonyms

filthily
vsdirtily
5.3

In a very dirty way

is milder, meaning not clean rather than extremely foul
squalidly
vsdirtily
8.9

In a very dirty and morally bad way

is limited to physical uncleanliness rather than moral decay
sordidly
vsdirtily
8.8

In a dirty or morally wrong way that shocks people

is about plain physical uncleanliness without moral or situational shame
unhygienically
vsdirtily
6.5

In a dirty way that spreads sickness

is simply about being not clean rather than causing health risks
dingily
vsdirtily
7.9

In a dirty, dull way that makes things look old and not fresh

is about real lack of cleanliness rather than just dim shabby appearance
impurely
vsdirtily
7.4

In a way that is morally wrong or dishonest

is only about plain physical uncleanliness and not moral or spiritual faults

Antonyms

1.0

Tends to be tidy and free from dirt

How Dirty

filthily
5.3
messily
1 1.4
dirtily
1 1.8
tidily
2 1.6
cleanly
6 2.0

Surface Forms

dirtily positive

Morphology

dirtily = dirty (transparent) = dirty + ly

Formed from the adjective 'dirty' with the productive adverbial suffix '-ly', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Dirtily comes from the simple word dirt, which means 'unclean matter'; the parts -y and -ly turn that idea into 'full of dirt' and then 'in that way'. So dirtily describes doing something 'in a dirty way'—either with real dirt on you or by acting unfairly or meanly.