natty

See also: Natty

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnæti/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -æti

Etymology 1

Originally slang, perhaps related to natural.

Adjective

natty (comparative nattier, superlative nattiest)

1. (informal) Smart and fashionable. [from late 18th c.]
   • 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

Smart and fashionable

• Arabic: أَنِيق m (ʔanīq), مُتَنَاغِم m (mutanāḡim)
• Czech: fešácký
• Finnish: siisti (fi), tyylikäs (fi), näppärä (fi), kätevä (fi)
• French: chic (fr), élégant (fr)
• German: schick (de), nett (de)
• Macedonian: модерен (moderen), шизик, фраер (šizik, fraer)
• Russian: мо́дный (ru) (módnyj), нарядный (ru) (narjadnyj)

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

• nattie

Adjective

natty (comparative more natty, superlative most natty)

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

   natty gains

Translations

sports

• Finnish: natu (fi)

Noun

natty (plural natties)

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

Translations

sports

• Finnish: natu (fi)

Etymology 4

Clipping of national +‎ -y.

Alternative forms

• nattie

Adjective

natty (comparative more natty, superlative most natty)

1. (slang) National.

Noun

natty (plural natties)

1. (slang, sports) A national championship

Anagrams

• tanty

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^[1]:

     “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^[2] (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

• natty dread
• natty dreadlocks

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 401
• natty – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary