adjective, naugh·ti·er, naugh·ti·est.
- disobedient; mischievous (used especially in speaking to or about children): Weren’t we naughty not to eat our spinach?
- improper, tasteless, indecorous, or indecent: a naughty word.
- Obsolete. wicked; evil.
adjective -tier or -tiest
- (esp of children or their behaviour) mischievous or disobedient; bad
- mildly indecent; titillating
noun plural -ties
- Australian and NZ slang an act of sexual intercourse
adj.late 14c., naugti “needy, having nothing,” from Old English nawiht (see naught) + -y (2). Sense of “wicked, evil, morally wrong” is attested from 1520s; specific meaning “sexually promiscuous” is from 1869. The more tame main modern sense of “disobedient” (especially of children) is attested from 1630s. Related: Naughtily; naughtiness. A woman of bad character c.1530-1750 might be called a naughty pack (also sometimes of men and later of children).