naughtier; naughtiest
1
a
: guilty of disobedience or misbehavior
a naughty child
b
archaic
: vicious in moral character : wicked
2
: lacking in taste or propriety
No naughty jokes in front of the children, please!
Synonyms
Examples of naughty in a Sentence
She gave him a naughty smile.
told her to act her age and stop throwing temper tantrums like a naughty little girl
Recent Examples on the Web
Sabrina Carpenter will be both naughty and nice in her upcoming holiday variety show airing exclusively on Netflix on December 6.
—
Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2024
That double title repeats a phonetic pronunciation of Betelgeuse, a star in the Orion constellation, consistent with the juvenile mischief inherent to Burton’s animated-cartoon sensibility — a childishly naughty perspective that has become all too common, especially in the comic-book-movie era.
—Armond White, National Review, 11 Sep. 2024
Hide your elf The central element of this tradition is that each night, your elf flies to the North Pole to tell Santa Claus whether your children have been naughty or nice.
—Apryl Duncan, Parents, 29 July 2024
But leave it to Sweeney and her stylist Molly Dickson to deliver a naughty twist: a thigh high slit with a pair of lacy stockings.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 16 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for naughty 
Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2024
That double title repeats a phonetic pronunciation of Betelgeuse, a star in the Orion constellation, consistent with the juvenile mischief inherent to Burton’s animated-cartoon sensibility — a childishly naughty perspective that has become all too common, especially in the comic-book-movie era.
—Armond White, National Review, 11 Sep. 2024
Hide your elf The central element of this tradition is that each night, your elf flies to the North Pole to tell Santa Claus whether your children have been naughty or nice.
—Apryl Duncan, Parents, 29 July 2024
But leave it to Sweeney and her stylist Molly Dickson to deliver a naughty twist: a thigh high slit with a pair of lacy stockings.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 16 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for naughty
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'naughty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Naughty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/naughty. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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