adj
Meaning 1
Full of nits.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: also, archaic, figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lousy
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
nitty
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation, modern: /ˈnɪtiː/
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈnɪtɪ/ older
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Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /ˈnɪti/
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General-American: /-ɾi/
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rhymes with -ɪti
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CMU ARPABET: N IH1 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Foolish, inane.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dumb, idiotic, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, beefheaded, beetle-headed, birdbrained, blockheaded, Boeotian, boneheaded, boofheaded, braindead, brainless, bubbleheaded, buffle-headed, bullet-headed, cerebrally challenged, childish, chowderheaded, chuckleheaded, crackbrained, cretinous, daft, dense, dented, dim-bulb, dim-headed, dim-witted, dim, doltish, dopey, dozy, drowsy, dull-headed, dull-minded, dull-witted, dull, dumber than a box of rocks, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatheaded, feeble-minded, flea-brained, foolish, fuzzy-headed, fuzzy-minded, goofy, half-brained, half-witted, hammer-headed, ignorant, imbecilic, inane, insipid, intellectually challenged, knuckleheaded, lamebrained, lowbrow, lumpish, lunkheaded, mentally challenged, mentally retarded, mindless, monosynaptic, moronic, muttonheaded, nitwitted, numbskulled, oafish, obtuse, peabrained, pratty, pudding-headed, puerile, purblind, quarter-witted, retarded, ridiculous, rockheaded, sharp as a bowling ball, sheep-headed, silly, simple, slow, slow on the uptake, slow-witted, smooth-brained, stolid, stupid, thick-skulled, thickheaded, thickwitted, thick, unapprehensive, unclever, uninformed, unintelligent, unsmart, vacant, vacuous, witless, wooden-headed, wool-headed, woolly-headed, woolly-minded, dumb as a bag of hammers, dumb as a box of rocks, dumb as a doorknob, dumb as an ox, dumb as a post, dumb as a sack of hammers, dumb as dirt, dumber than a rock, not the sharpest crayon in the box, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, not the sharpest tool in the shed, thick as a brick, thick as a plank, thick as champ, thick as mince, thick as two short planks, thick as a whale omelette, ass-brained, fuckwitted, shit-for-brains, thick as pig shit, asinine, balmy, barmy, bedaft, loony, derpy, duncical, fatuous, gauvison, idle, insipient, mookish, naive, slight, softheaded, soft in the head, sottish, unsage, unwise, crackpot
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
detailed or specific; fastidious, fussy, nit-picky.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Excessively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: anal-retentive, choosy, conscientious, dainty, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicking, finickity, finicky, finikin, fussy, hypercritical, lily-handed, meticulous, niggly, nitpickish, nit-picky, nitty, overcritical, overscrupulous, particular, pedantic, pernickety, persnickety, picky
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Of a poker player: playing in an overly cautious and reactive manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
Topics: card-games, poker
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Shining; elegant, spruce.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A dope fiend, a druggie.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Multicultural-London-English, slang
Qualifier: African-American Vernacular
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: addict, abuser, fiend, slave, wastoid
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From nit + -y. The “foolish, inane” adjective sense is from nit (“fool, nitwit”), possibly under the influence of nutty (“crazy, mad”). The origin of the noun sense (“dope fiend, druggie”) is unknown, but could refer to a person who is under the influence of drugs to the extent that he or she is careless about personal hygiene and unkempt. Compare the verb nit (“to be a nitty”).
Probably from nitty(-gritty).
A clipping of nitid (“bright, lustrous, shining”), or directly derived from Latin nitidus (“glittering, shining”), from niteō (“to glitter, shine; to look beautiful or bright”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ney- (“to shine”)) + -idus (“tending to”).
Across languages
Translations
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: въшлив (vǎšliv) — full of nits
- Turkish: sirkeli — full of nits
- Ukrainian: вошивий (vošyvyj) — full of nits
Real reading context