nobody
Americanpronoun
noun
pronoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nobody
First recorded 1300–50; Middle English; see origin at no 2, body
Compare meaning
How does nobody compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the word nobody to mean "no one," or for someone who's completely unimportant or insignificant. It's not nice to call someone a nobody; everyone wants to be a somebody. If nobody is at home, you can ring the doorbell for an hour and get no response, and if nobody in your family likes pizza, there's no reason to order it for dinner. Since nobody means "no person," it's come to also have the meaning "insignificant person." It's hard not to feel like a nobody when your sister becomes famous after starring in a popular movie.
Vocabulary lists containing nobody
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.
If we lived in a better world, nobody outside the fandom would care about this event.
From Slate • Jun. 16, 2026
UFC president and chief executive officer Dana White has said that nobody, including Strickland, was banned from the event.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026
“We rolled this out and made it work, and nobody was really that excited about our agent,” Salazar said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
It was hardly the sweetest strike, but nobody cared.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026
Even though the schoolteacher blamed Buddy, nobody had any proof, so Buddy went unpunished.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
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.
