nobody
Americanpronoun
noun
-
nobodies
plural
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.
See Examples For:
Veteran folk singer Neil Martin said nobody during the Troubles would have "thought it would have been safe".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Instead, we’ve somehow arrived at a version where Gen Z has collectively decided drinking isn’t fun anymore, bars are empty because nobody under 30 leaves the house and nightlife itself is quietly dying.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Most practices are still paid by the visit, not for whether patients stay healthy, so a risk flagged years early is a warning nobody is paid to heed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
What makes this episode unusually clarifying is that nobody on the winning side seems to feel much need to disguise the motive.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
The odds of nobody ever getting sick again seem pretty slim.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
You can think, within two seconds, of stories of nobodies who became somebodies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
"We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing!"
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025
He understands that he can’t fight a bunch of nobodies and wait until he is 35 to have a signature fight, as Crawford did.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
A small group of nobodies on TikTok saying dumb shit is not a viral trend that necessitates mass hysteria in response.
From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2023
It became very obvious very quickly that even on a team of nobodies with no sporting talent and often even less enthusiasm, no one was keen to pick me.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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.
