INDEX:
1. dirty
2. very dirty
3. dirty and bad for your health
4. to make something dirty
5. to make something dirty and dangerous
6. something that makes things dirty
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ CLEAN
see also
↑ WASH
↑ MARK
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1. dirty
▷ dirty /ˈdɜːʳti/ [adjective]
not clean :
▪ Look how dirty your hands are!
▪ Take off those dirty jeans.
▪ We were hot and dirty after working in the garden all afternoon.
▪ Do you have any dirty clothes you need me to wash?
get dirty
become dirty
▪ How did the floor get so dirty?
▷ muddy /ˈmʌdi/ [adjective]
covered in mud :
▪ Your shoes are really muddy - take them off before you come in.
▪ They moved slowly along the muddy footpath.
▪ She left a trail of muddy footprints behind her.
▷ dusty /ˈdʌsti/ [adjective]
a dusty room, piece of furniture etc is covered in dust, especially because no one has cleaned it or moved it for a long time :
▪ The room was dark and dusty.
▪ dusty shelves
▪ The journal was dusty and beginning to fall apart.
▷ greasy /ˈgriːsi, -zi/ [adjective]
something that is greasy looks dirty because it has an oily substance on it :
▪ greasy pots and pans
▪ Dick wiped his hands on a greasy rag.
▪ Her long greasy hair hung down to her shoulders.
▷ grubby /ˈgrʌbi/ [adjective]
something that is grubby is fairly dirty, usually because it has been used a lot and not washed :
▪ He blew his nose with a grubby handkerchief.
▪ Her coat was grubby and one of the sleeves was torn.
▪ From his back pocket Robert took out a grubby scrap of paper.
▷ grimy /ˈgraɪmi/ [adjective]
something that is grimy has a covering of dirt on its surface, especially because it has not been cleaned for a long time :
▪ Chris was in a grimy apron, sweeping up.
▪ The whole town was grimy from smoke and coal-dust.
▪ It was difficult to see through the grimy windows of the cafe.
▷ mucky /ˈmʌki/ [adjective] especially British, informal
dirty :
▪ Don’t wear your best shoes -- you’ll only get them all mucky.
▪ The cafeteria was self-service, and guests had to carry their food on little plastic trays to mucky tables.
2. very dirty
▷ filthy /ˈfɪlθi/ [adjective]
extremely dirty :
▪ The inside of the oven was filthy.
▪ We didn’t go swimming because the water looked filthy.
▪ filthy sheets
absolutely filthy
▪ You ought to wash that sweatshirt - it’s absolutely filthy.
▷ foul /faʊl/ [adjective]
very dirty - use this especially about air or water :
▪ the foul air of the factory
▪ A foul haze of pollution hung over the city.
▷ squalid /ˈskwɒlɪd, ˈskwɒlədǁˈskwɑː-/ [adjective]
very dirty and unpleasant - use this about the place or conditions in which someone lives :
▪ Dalmer lived in a squalid little room above a shop.
▪ Her childhood was spent in the squalid slums east of the city.
squalid conditions
▪ After the squalid conditions of the refugee camps even this place seems preferable.
3. dirty and bad for your health
▷ unhygienic /ˌʌnhaɪˈdʒiːnɪk◂ǁ-ˈdʒen-, -ˈdʒiːn-/ [adjective]
likely to cause disease - use this about dirty conditions in kitchens, restaurants, and hospitals :
▪ It is unhygienic to store raw meat at that temperature.
▪ Hospital cleaners were criticized for the unhygienic conditions of the central kitchens.
▷ polluted /pəˈluːtɪd, pəˈluːtəd/ [adjective]
water or air that is polluted has a lot of harmful waste or poisonous chemicals in it :
▪ Sayers said that if he’s elected his administration will make a priority of cleaning up the region’s polluted rivers.
▪ Central London is the most polluted spot in Britain.
polluted with/by
▪ Large parts of the Mediterranean are still polluted with toxic waste.
heavily polluted
very badly polluted
▪ The air was heavily polluted with exhaust fumes.
▷ contaminated /kənˈtæmɪneɪtəd, kənˈtæməneɪtəd/ [adjective]
food, water, or land that is contaminated is not safe to use or be in because dangerous chemicals or bacteria have come into it :
▪ contaminated drinking water
contaminated with/by
▪ Several people became ill after eating hamburger meat contaminated with the E.coli bacteria.
heavily contaminated
very badly contaminated
▪ The soil around the plant is heavily contaminated.
▷ insanitary /ɪnˈsænɪt ə ri, ɪnˈsænət ə riǁ-teri/ [adjective]
insanitary conditions are dirty and likely to cause disease, especially because there is no effective way of getting rid of waste :
▪ Amnesty claims the prisoners are being kept in overcrowded and insanitary conditions.
4. to make something dirty
▷ get something dirty /ˌget something ˈdɜːʳti/ [verb phrase]
use this especially in negative statements :
▪ Try not to get the floor dirty.
▪ I don’t want to get my new shoes dirty.
▷ dirty /ˈdɜːʳti/ [transitive verb]
to make something dirty, especially clothes :
▪ You can borrow my gloves, but please try not to dirty them.
▪ As he stood on the pavement, muddy water splashed up and dirtied his trousers.
▷ soil /sɔɪl/ [transitive verb] formal
to make clothes, sheets, etc dirty, especially with sweat, waste from your body, or other liquids :
▪ The baby had soiled her diaper again.
▪ His shirtfront was soiled with blood and his hair was wild.
▪ Many of the pages had been soiled by the old man’s dirty fingers.
5. to make something dirty and dangerous
▷ pollute /pəˈluːt/ [transitive verb]
to make air, water, the ground etc dirty by putting chemicals or waste products into it, so that it is unsafe for use by people or animals :
▪ An investigation revealed that the mine was polluting both the air and the groundwater.
▪ The company is charged with polluting the River Mersey by allowing crude oil to enter the river.
pollute something with something
▪ The factory explosion, which polluted the surrounding area with dioxin, was reportedly caused by negligence.
▷ contaminate /kənˈtæmɪneɪt, kənˈtæməneɪt/ [transitive verb]
to accidentally make a place or a substance dirty and dangerous by adding something to it, for example chemicals or bacteria :
▪ Lead pipes can contaminate drinking water.
▪ The food was contaminated during the production process.
contamination /kənˌtæmɪˈneɪʃ ə n, kənˌtæməˈneɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ contamination of air, food and water
6. something that makes things dirty
▷ dirt /dɜːʳt/ [uncountable noun]
dust, mud, or anything else that makes things dirty :
▪ Why is there dirt all over the back seat of the car?
▪ She swept the dirt off the back porch.
▪ He took off his glasses, which were covered with dirt.
speck of dirt
small piece of dirt
▪ The rooms were cleaned until every speck of dirt and grit was gone.
▷ dust /dʌst/ [uncountable noun]
dry powder that forms a layer on furniture, floors, clothes etc, especially when they have not been cleaned or moved for a long time :
▪ Max brushed the dust off his coat.
layer of dust
▪ There was a thick layer of dust on the furniture.
▷ mud /mʌd/ [uncountable noun]
wet earth that sticks to your shoes, clothes, car, tyres etc :
▪ There’s mud all over the carpet.
▪ Hayley scraped the dried mud off her boots.
▪ Their expensive riding jackets were covered in mud.
▷ pollution /pəˈluːʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
the harmful effects on water, air, or land of chemicals and waste from factories, cars, modern farming methods etc :
▪ Industrial pollution has killed much of the river’s wildlife.
▪ Pollution from cars is the main cause of global warming.
▪ The convention, signed by the six states bordering the Black Sea, aims to reduce current pollution levels.
▷ muck /mʌk/ [uncountable noun] British informal
dirt or mud :
▪ I’ll just clean the muck off the windscreen and wing mirrors.
be covered in muck
▪ His hands and fingernails were filthy, his face and legs covered in muck.
▷ grime /graɪm/ [uncountable noun]
thick, dark dirt that covers a surface over a period of time and is difficult to remove :
▪ On one wall of the entryway hangs a large oil painting, covered with grime.
▪ His hands were black with grime from working on the car.