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dirty-faced

dirty-faced

1 4.1
Having a face covered in dirt
  • adjective
translation icon : con cara sucia
  • The little girl ran into the house, dirty-faced from playing in the mud outside.
  • dirty-faced kid

Examples

  • He turned to go back to the cart and saw two boys, dirty-faced urchins, lifting out of the cart a rolled-up strip of canvas and a quilt.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The last picture is the girls and me; big sis is Big Bird, little sis is Dorothy (don't you love how her hair kept falling out?) and I am a forgotten doll from underneath your bed, hair matted, dirty-faced... and I am angry you have forgotten about me... very angry.

    Blog text (9)
  • When we got to the top, we were faced with the dirty-faced white boys.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • "Little dirty-faced kid with a saucy manner?" Santa always remembered the children.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • And there she was, standing in front and above him, a dirty-faced little girl who had used the promise she had wrung from him to call him up now.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • " A girl stared up at her, dirty-faced, tousle-headed; a stranger.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The last picture is the girls and me; big sis is Big Bird, little sis is Dorothy (don't you love how her hair kept falling out...) and I am a forgotten doll from underneath your bed, hair matted, dirty-faced... and I

    Blog text (9)
  • But everyone in the crowd—even the children—seemed to greet the arrival of fourteen unescorted, dirty-faced adolescents as a sign of trouble.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • After a long day of playing soccer, the boys returned home, dirty-faced and laughing.

  • The puppy came running back, dirty-faced and wagging its tail after digging in the yard.

Synonyms

nasty
vsdirty-faced
282 1.0

Very dirty and covered with things that smell bad

is more neutral, used for a simply dirty face without disgust
messy
vsdirty-faced
233 1.0

Not tidy or clean, with things in the wrong place

is about dirt on the face rather than general untidiness
filthy
vsdirty-faced
183 1.5

Very dirty and covered with mud or dirt

is milder, describing only a face smeared with dirt
muddy
vsdirty-faced
73 1.1

Covered in mud and hard to walk on

refers to wet dirt on the face rather than ground or surfaces
foul
vsdirty-faced
30 2.7

Very dirty and bad to touch or smell

is less strong, used for a dirty face rather than very extreme dirt
grimy
vsdirty-faced
22 3.7

Covered in thick dirt that makes something look and feel dirty

refers to ingrained dirt on the face rather than on surfaces
grubby
vsdirty-faced
17 1.4

Dirty and needing to be cleaned

describes dirt only on the face rather than the whole body
unclean
vsdirty-faced
7 1.3

Dirty and covered in dust, food, or grease

applies specifically to the face rather than general uncleanliness
bedraggled
vsdirty-faced
4 7.0

Dirty and untidy, often wet after being in rain or mud

describes dirt only on the face rather than a whole wet appearance
scuzzy
vsdirty-faced
  • Offensive
4 8.6

Dirty and unpleasant, like a place with sticky floors

is about a dirty face rather than an overall disreputable look
smudgy
vsdirty-faced
2 4.1

Having soft dirty marks that make a surface look blurred

is used when dirt is on the face rather than on objects
scummy
vsdirty-faced
2 5.6

Covered with a thin dirty film on the surface

describes a dirty face rather than a filmy surface layer
soiled
vsdirty-faced
1 2.5

Not clean because it has mud or grease on it

applies specifically to a face stain rather than general staining
smutty
vsdirty-faced
1 5.6

Covered in black soot or dirt

is used when the face is dirty rather than other parts
slutchy
vsdirty-faced
  • Archaic
9.9

A place or surface that is wet, muddy and looks dirty and messy

is used when dirt is on the face rather than on places

Surface Forms

dirty-faced positive

Morphology

dirty-faced = dirty + face (transparent) = dirty + face + ed

The structure is a straightforward combination of 'dirty' + 'face' with adjectival '-ed' producing 'having a dirty face', which is directly inferable from the components.

Etymology

The word dirty-faced is made from the two words dirty meaning 'not clean' and face meaning 'the front of the head'. So dirty-faced describes someone whose face is covered in dirt.