natty [L18th] The informal word natty, ‘smart or stylish’, probably comes from *neat. It was first recorded in 1785, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose, which was a collection of slang terms that Dr Johnson had deliberately left out of his dictionary of 1755. Natty lads in those days were young thieves or pickpockets. A quotation from the poet Shelley (1812) shows the modern meaning: ‘As natty a beau, As Bond Street ever saw.’ Among Rastafarians natty is used to describe hair that is uncombed or matted, as in dreadlocks; in this context it is a form of knotty. A natty dread is a Rastafarian. This sense has been around since at least the 1970s. See also dread.