Dirty
Dirty adjective - Not being in accordance with the rules or standards of what is fair in sport.
Usage example: the school is known for the dirty football it plays
Mean is a synonym for dirty in behaviour topic. In some cases you can use "Mean" instead an adjective "Dirty", when it comes to topics like low, obscene, despicable, nasty.
Common collocations
| time | dirty time | mean time |
Both words in one sentence
- Nurse Bendy: We all need people who aren't mean to me, or that act like they only care about doing... dirty, awful things to you.
-
The Beatles's Mean Mister Mustard from Abbey Road, who yells obscene things at the Queen and is described in the lyrics as "a dirty old man".
Source: Dirty Old Man -
Doesn't mean they don't fight dirty-these guys are next-door neighbors to devils.
Source: Tabletop Game / Pathfinder
Cite this Source
Mean and Dirty. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/dirty/mean
Dirty & Mean. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/dirty/mean>.
Mean or Dirty. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/dirty/mean.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "dirty" and "mean" have occurred on timeline