nickname
Americannoun
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a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity.
He has always loathed his nickname of “Whizzer.”
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a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.
verb (used with object)
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to give a nickname to (a person, town, etc.); call by a nickname.
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Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.
noun
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a familiar, pet, or derisory name given to a person, animal, or place
his nickname was Lefty because he was left-handed
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a shortened or familiar form of a person's name
Joe is a nickname for Joseph
verb
Other Word Forms
- nicknamer noun
- unnicknamed adjective
Etymology
Origin of nickname
1400–50; late Middle English nekename, for ekename (the phrase an ekename being taken as a nekename ). See eke 2, name; newt
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Naturally, Ryland nicknames his new acquaintance Rocky and quickly realizes they’re both the only survivors aboard their ships, tasked with the same mission: save their dying planets.
From Salon
Carlos Ray Norris, later nicknamed Chuck, was born March 10, 1940, in Oklahoma.
Littler has already trademarked his nickname "the Nuke" in the United States.
From BBC
His playmates have nicknamed him “petit éclair” for his soft heart, which they mistake for weakness.
“Sonny” is the nickname of Harold White, an engineer and physicist who has worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
