From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnaughtynaugh‧ty /ˈnɔːti $ ˈnɒːti, ˈnɑːti/ ●●○ S3 adjective 1 BAD BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONSa naughty child does not obey adults and behaves badly OPP good You’re a very naughty boy! Look what you’ve done!2 British EnglishDISAPPROVE if an adult does something naughty, they do something that is not right or good, but is not very serious I felt a bit naughty going off on my own, leaving the children behind.3 → naughty jokes/magazines/films etc4 → the naughty step —naughtily adverb —naughtiness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
naughty• Yes, when I was ten and twelve years old, I was very, very naughty.• But they were naughty and stayed.• Tale-telling on each other and inciting each other to be naughty are frequent problems faced by parents of young children.• They were reading an American novel that seemed to have had all the naughty bits cut out.• We've been looking for you everywhere, you naughty boy!• To allow the naughty child to be seen as good, the good child also needs to be seen as being naughty.• Dad was told how naughty James had been and then shouted at him and sent him to the bedroom.• Abraham and MacGregor begin tasting that delicious sense of playing hooky from life, just like two big, naughty kids.• a naughty little girl• Dennis sat on his bed reading a naughty magazine.• I don't believe in hitting children, no matter how naughty they've been.• You want your nice boyfriend to do naughty things - the things this girl does in your fantasies.• Betsy said a naughty word, Mom.Origin naughty (1300-1400) naught 