natty dread

Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

• dread, natty, natty-dread, natty dreadlocks

Etymology

Compound of natty (“knotty”) +‎ dread (“dreadlocks”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnatɪ ˈd͡ʒɹɛd/
• Hyphenation: na‧tty‧dread

Noun

natty dread (plural natty dread dem, quantified natty dread)

1. Abbreviation of natty dreadlocks.
2. A Rastafarian man.

   Synonyms: dread, natty, ras, rasta

   Cut who fa hair? Doah run dem joke wid natty dread.

   Cut whose hair? Don't make those kinds of jokes around the Rasta man.

   • 2014, Annette Lynch, Mitchell D. Strauss, Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia (in English), →ISBN, page 248:

     “In Jamaica, Rastas are sometimes referred to as Natty Dread due to their thick dreadlocked hair. […] ”

See also

• dread
• natty
• ras
• rasta
• Rastafari

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 401
• natty dread – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary