natty

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See also: Natty

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Originally slang, perhaps related to natural.

Adjective

natty (comparative nattier, superlative nattiest)

  1. (informal) Smart and fashionable.
    • 1997, David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch keeps his head”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:
      Anyway, while the creepy-video thing is under way there are also some scenes of Pullman looking very natty and East Village in all-black and jamming on his tenor sax in front of a packed dance floor (only in a David Lynch movie would people dance ecstatically to abstract jazz), […]
Translations

Etymology 2

Variant of knotty.

Adjective

natty (comparative nattier, superlative nattiest)

  1. (Jamaica, slang) Knotty.
    natty dreadlocks

Etymology 3

Clipping of natural +‎ -y.

Alternative forms

Adjective

natty (comparative more natty, superlative most natty)

  1. (slang, sports, particularly bodybuilding) Natural, as opposed to steroid enhanced.
    natty gains
Translations

Noun

natty (plural natties)

  1. (slang, sports, particularly bodybuilding) Someone whose muscle gains are natural and not aided by the use of steroids.
Translations

Etymology 4

Clipping of national +‎ -y.

Alternative forms

Adjective

natty (comparative more natty, superlative most natty)

  1. (slang) National.

Noun

natty (plural natties)

  1. (slang, sports) A national championship

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “natty”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

From English knotty.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnatɪ/
  • Hyphenation: na‧tty

Noun

natty (plural natty dem, quantified natty)

  1. Abbreviation of natty dreadlocks.

Adjective

natty

  1. dreadlocked, knotty, nappy
    What a way yuh 'ead natty. ― Your hair's so nappy.
    • 2010, Mel Cooke, “Mid-90s Rasta revolution withers”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎:
      “Natty natty pon head, picky picky dung a chin. […] ”
      Dreadlocked with a scruffy beard.

Verb

natty

  1. to grow dreadlocks; to grow locks
    'Im natty up him head. ― He's grown his locks.
    • 2014, Gordon Robinson, “Tainted morality”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎ (in English):
      “By his deeds shall a man be known
      Natty up your head and worship Babylon throne […] ”
      By his deeds shall a man be known
      You've grown dreadlocks but you're still a slave to the system

Derived terms

Further reading

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