Nellie

or Nel·ly

[ nel-ee ]

noun
  1. a female given name, form of Helen.

  2. (often lowercase)Slang.

    • Offensive. a fussily effeminate male.

    • Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.

Origin of Nellie

1
First recorded in 1930–35 for def. 2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Nellie in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with Nellie

Nellie

see nervous nellie.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.