nellie
English · Thesaurus
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Nellie¹
Where it comes from
Suffixed with -ie, compare Noll and Neddie, respectively from Oliver and Edward.
proper noun Nell · Nelly
- A diminutive of the female given names Eleanor, Ellen, Helen, and Chanel; popular as a formal given name at the turn of the 20th century. "Then we will call her Matilda," said he, "as it is a maxim of mine never to spoil children by giving them pet names." "But you call your daughter Nellie," suggested the little widow, and in her soft, blue eye there shone a mischievous twinkle, as if she fancied she had beaten him in his own argumen
- A diminutive of the female given name Chanel.
- A diminutive of the male given name Nelson.
nellie²
noun nellies
- Clipping of high nellie, a type of roadster bicycle. CHORUS:Be the holy man above tonight did ye ever see the likes. Sally Doran sitting there upon her great big nellie bike. It was at twelve o'clock at night, I got an awful fright. But it was only Sally Doran on her great big nellie bike.
- Alternative form of nelly (“effeminate man”).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: neely, mrs, nelly, fusser, worrywart, alarmist, coward, worrier, fidget, scaredy-cat, jitterbug, faintheart, trembler, wimp, weakling, sissy
Talk about this word "nellie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nellie. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. nellie. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nellie "nellie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nellie.Cite this
@misc{nellie_2026,
title = {nellie},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nellie},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
