How to Use dirty in a Sentence

dirty

1 of 2 adjective
  • Try not to get your clothes dirty.
  • All my socks are dirty.
  • I can't breathe this dirty city air.
  • I hate listening to his dirty jokes.
  • The baby has a dirty diaper.
  • Don’t clean with a dirty brush.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Take that dirty kitchen knife to the sink.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 16 Feb. 2026
  • My glass was dirty and my beer was warm.
    — Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
  • Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.
    — Shagun Khare, Martha Stewart, 6 Jan. 2026
  • His eyes are closed; his clothes are dirty.
    — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Are Democrats ready to play dirty?
    — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Sit back and let this one do all your dirty work.
    — PC Magazine, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Sit back and let this one do all your dirty work.
    — PC Magazine, 9 Oct. 2025
  • One said his cell was dirty and had a strong smell of sewage.
    — Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Be willing to do all the dirty work.
    — Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Get your hands dirty in my garden.
    — Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 18 June 2026
  • The Traitors sort of did her dirty, didn’t it?
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Microwaves seem to get dirty out of nowhere.
    — Natalia Gonzalez Blanco Serrano, The Spruce, 11 May 2026
  • Why does my grout get dirty so quickly?
    — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Is dirty blonde the same as a medium blonde?
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Floors get dirty no matter what they’re made of.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 12 Mar. 2026
  • They dirty floors and walls with smears and droppings.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 June 2026
  • My skin felt dirty, and my stomach tensed with fear.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
  • An ice scoop was stored on top of a dirty surface.
    — Sacbee.com, 6 Mar. 2026
  • No dirty fish — no shrimp, no catfish, no tilapia.
    — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Even longtime fans were shook right down to their dirty boots.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Beanies can hide your dirty hair and keep your head and ears warm.
    — Gabrielle Porcaro, Travel + Leisure, 11 Oct. 2023
  • The velvet may be hard to clean if the flats get dirty or stained.
    — Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 22 June 2023
  • Kneeling in the dirt can be painful, wet, and… well, dirty.
    — Jill Layton, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The good news is that more times than not, this doesn't mean your floors are still dirty.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2026

dirty

2 of 2 verb
  • Take off your shoes to keep from dirtying the floor.
  • Her fingers were dirtied with ink.
  • The virus has gotten more of us outdoors, too, dirtying our hands in the soil.
    — cleveland, 1 June 2020
  • That applies to makeup as well, which can quickly dirty the inside of the mask.
    — cleveland, 15 Apr. 2020
  • Toys on the floor, dirtied dishes from dinner in the sink and artwork on the fridge.
    — Karen Pilarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2017
  • Call it a 3-day-old snow scene, after the village's cars have dirtied all the white flakes.
    — Lauren Piro, Good Housekeeping, 11 Dec. 2014
  • Another student complained the boy’s skin would dirty up the crayons.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2021
  • The area is exposed to the east, so any stiff wind from that direction will beat it up and dirty the water.
    — Todd Masson, NOLA.com, 9 May 2017
  • If a paper towel is available, be sure to use it to turn off the faucet to avoid dirtying your hands again.
    — Emily Bamforth, cleveland, 4 Mar. 2020
  • Hell, maybe therapists should step out of the office and dirty their hands in the muck of their patients’ lives.
    — Time, 23 Jan. 2023
  • His uniform already had been dirtied by his earlier dash around the bases.
    — Dennis Lin, sandiegouniontribune.com, 29 July 2017
  • Until a jockey can ditch a dirtied set for a clean look, life in the fast lane is awful stressful.
    — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 19 May 2018
  • Now, Dake will wash her uniform a last time and prepare to dirty a new uniform next season.
    — Randy Sachs, star-telegram.com, 24 May 2017
  • Keep them in reserve as a sleep sock to ward off icy toes and prevent sweat and skin oils from dirtying your down sleeping bag.
    — Adam Roy, Outside, 28 Dec. 2025
  • Garments can be dirtied again by the elements if air-dried outside.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
  • After seeing what happens, probably not — feel free to dirty up this lifeguard look with some heinous face paint.
    — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 30 June 2020
  • Markings on the cup are extra helpful for quick and easy prep, as there's no need to dirty any measuring cups or spoons in the process.
    — Brigitt Earley, Good Housekeeping, 25 May 2022
  • On an ever dirtying planet, these folks had the fortune to occupy a lovely sliver.
    — Chris Colin, Outside Online, 30 May 2018
  • Protesters have been seen taking off their shoes before standing on public benches, not wanting to dirty them.
    — Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2020
  • There was danger in the fly ash, or the powderlike particles produced when burning coal, dirtying the air.
    — Sarah Bowman, Indianapolis Star, 24 Sep. 2017
  • Soil erosion from the mountain during rains dirtied the ponds and also affected the farming.
    — Gurvinder Singh, Quartz India, 27 Jan. 2020
  • This griddle from Blackstone is perfect for cooking large batches of food without dirtying a pan.
    — Popular Science, 18 Mar. 2020
  • For shoes, Cross chose sleek combat boots, as Beckham went for his trusty Vans, which were slightly dirtied.
    — Vogue, 10 Apr. 2019
  • Jones includes a recipe for baked pasta that requires you to dirty exactly one pan — a casserole dish — and a small mixing bowl for the topping.
    — Washington Post, 16 Jan. 2022
  • The river has been dirtied by combined sewer overflows for years, DiZoglio said.
    — Alyssa Lukpat, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Aug. 2019
  • Set designers painted on rust, dirtied air vents, and added a general patina of schmutz to the queue scenes, all in service of the story.
    — Arthur Levine, USA TODAY, 14 May 2018
  • But most members of the organization don't often dirty their hands directly.
    — Christian Holub, EW.com, 24 Mar. 2023
  • And this method achieves just that, keeping the kernels in tidy planks and dirtying minimal dishes, all without kernels flying across your kitchen.
    — Alex Delany, Bon Appetit, 19 Aug. 2017
  • In one haunting image, the polar bear walks toward a line of cars, her paws dirtied, her head bowed in a way that seems serene, almost deferential.
    — Michele Moses, The New Yorker, 23 June 2019
  • The spoon even comes with measuring lines for a teaspoon and tablespoon, saving you from having to dirty another utensil.
    — Melanie Fincher, Southern Living, 26 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dirty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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