English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: pāst'i, IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪsti/
• Homophone: pastie
• Rhymes: -eɪsti

Adjective

pasty ‎(comparative pastier, superlative pastiest)

1. Like paste, sticky.

   These mashed potatoes aren’t cooked well, they are very pasty.

2. pale, lacking colour, having a pallor

   He is pasty-faced.

   (figuratively) He was feeling pasty.

   Are you feeling OK? You look a bit pasty.

3. (slang, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) white-skinned

Synonyms

• (sickly pale): See also Wikisaurus:pallid

Translations

Noun

pasty ‎(plural pasties)

1. (chiefly in the plural) A small item of clothing that conceals little more than the nipple of a woman's breast, primarily worn by female exotic dancers.
   • 1989, Joe David Bellamy, Suzi Sinzinnati: A Novel, Pushcart Press, ISBN 9780916366568, page 29:

     Nonchalantly she bared one succulent pasty-topped breast.

   • 2001, Irene Pence, Buried Memories, Kensington Publishing Corporation, ISBN 0786012633, page 52:

     One of the experienced dancers dabbed a bit of rubber cement inside a silver-sequinned pasty and told Betty to place it over her nipple

   • 2016 February 2, Jake Drake, “Janet Jackson and American **** Culture”, in rec.music.opera, Usenet:

     There really is no other purpose for wearing a pasty than to avoid being arrested for indecency.

   • 2009, Jeffry S. Hepple, “Mancha, Mexico”, in The Treasure of La Malinche, volume 2, Jeffry S. Hepple, ISBN 9780984118229, page 164:

     "What's a pasty?" ¶ "That's what strippers and showgirls used to wear to cover their nipples in teh old, tamer days of yore. They were round paper disks with spangles on one side and paste on the other; hence the term pasty."

Translations

Related terms

• paste

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman paste and Old French pasté.

Alternative forms

• pastie

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: păst'i, IPA^(key): /ˈpæsti/
• Rhymes: -æsti
• (Australia) enPR: päst'i, IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːsti/
• Rhymes: -ɑːsti

Noun

pasty ‎(plural pasties)

1. A type of seasoned meat and vegetable pie, usually of a semicircular or distinctive shape. A (savory) hand pie.

Usage notes

The spelling pasty is considered correct in the United Kingdom but in Australia the spelling pastie is the more common.

Derived terms

• Cornish pasty
• nasty pasty
• party pasty

Translations

See also

• meat pie
• sausage roll
• BBC: Who, What, Why: What exactly is a Cornish pasty?

Anagrams

• patsy, Patsy