dirt

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dirt¹

  • /dɜːt/ UK
  • /dɝt/ US
  • /dɪɾt/ Scotland
  • /døːt/ New Zealand, Wales
  • /deːt/
  • [deːθ̠]
  • /dɛːt/

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)t

Where it comes from

From Middle English drit (“excrement”), from Old Norse drit (“excrement”), from Proto-Germanic *dritą, *dritō (“excrement”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreyd-, *treydʰ- (“to have diarrhea”). Cognate with dialectal Danish and Norn drit (“excrement”), Norwegian dritt (“excrement”), dialectal Swedish dret (“shit”), Faroese and Icelandic drit (“bird excrement”), Dutch drijten (“to defecate”), drits (“dirt, mud, filth”), drijt and dreet (“excrement”), Low German drieten (“to defecate”), Driet (“shit”), regional German Driss (“shit”), Old English ġedrītan (“to defecate”).

The word originally referred to excrement before shifting to the current sense of "soil". For a semantic parallel, see Norwegian skitt (“dirt, filth, grime, mud”), from Old Norse skítr (“shit”), which is cognate with English shit.

noun dirts · durt

  1. US, uncountable, usually Soil or earth.
  2. uncountable, usually A stain or spot (on clothes etc); any foreign substance that worsens appearance.

    Similar: filth

  3. uncountable, usually Previously unknown facts or rumors about a person. The reporter uncovered the dirt on the businessman by going undercover.

    Similar: gossip, kompromat

  4. figuratively, uncountable, usually Meanness; sordidness. honours […] thrown away upon dirt and infamy
  5. uncountable, usually In placer mining, earth, gravel, etc., before washing.
  6. uncountable, usually Freckles. I'm one of Charlie's Angels too, but I'm the one with the dirty face.
  7. archaic, uncountable, usually Excrement; dung. And the haft also went in after the blade: and the fatte closed vpon the blade, so that hee could not drawe the dagger out of his belly, and the dirt came out.

verb dirts · dirting · dirted · durt

  1. rare, transitive To make foul or filthy; soil; befoul; dirty

DIRT²

noun

  1. Ireland, abbreviation, acronym, uncountable Acronym of Deposit Interest Retention Tax

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: graveled, soil, gravel, unpaved, crap, grease, stain, turd, shit, filth, poop, grime, scandal, unimproved, ungraded, malicious gossip

Translations

Every language

noun unclean matter

Españolsuciedad, mugor, mugre
한국어오물 omul
日本語泥 doro, 汚物 obutsu
中文污垢 wūgòu, 穢物 /秽物 huìwù, 污 wū
Portuguêssujidade
Françaissaleté, ordure
DeutschSchmutz
Italianosudiciume
Ελληνικάακαθαρσία akatharsía
Românămurdărie
Русскийгрязь grjazʹ
العربيةقَذَارَة qaḏāra

noun soil or earth

Españoltierra
한국어진흙 jinheuk
日本語泥 doro, 土 tsuchi, 泥土 deido, ダート dāto
中文泥土 nítǔ, 污垢 wūgòu, 灰塵 /灰尘 huīchén, 地 dì, 土 tǔ
हिन्दीगंदगी gandgī, मैल, मिट्टी miṭṭī
Kiswahilitakataka
Portuguêsterra
Françaisterre, boue
DeutschErde, Boden, Dreck
Italianoterra
Românăpământ
Русскийземля́ zemljá, по́чва póčva, грязь grjazʹ
Tiếng Việtbụi, đất, bùn
العربيةتُرْبَة turba, تُرَاب turāb
עבריתעָפָר afár

noun stain or spot (on clothes etc)

Españolmugre, suciedad
한국어더러움 deoreoum
日本語汚れ yogore
中文污點 /污点 wūdiǎn
Kiswahilitakataka
Portuguêssujeira
Françaissalissure, tache
DeutschDreck, Schmutz, Fleck
Italianosporco
Românămizerie, murdărie
Русскийгрязь grjazʹ, пятно́ pjatnó
العربيةبُقْعَة buqʕa, قَذَارَة qaḏāra
עבריתלִכְלוּךְ likhlúkh

noun previously unknown negative information, kompromat

Españoltrapos sucios
中文黑材料 hēicáiliào, 黑料 hēiliào
Kiswahilitakataka
Portuguêssujeira
Françaiskompromat
DeutschDreck, Schmutz, Unrat, Kompromat
Русскийкомпрома́т kompromát
עבריתלִכְלוּךְ likhlúkh

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Cite this
MLA

"dirt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dirt. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dirt. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dirt

Chicago

"dirt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dirt.

BibTeX
@misc{dirt_2026,
  title = {dirt},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dirt},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}