nappy

¹ American  

[nap-ee] / ˈnæp i /

noun

Chiefly Scot.

1. liquor, especially ale.

---

nappy ² American  

[nap-ee] / ˈnæp i /

Or nappie

noun

nappies plural

1. a small shallow dish, usually round and often of glass, with a flat bottom and sloping sides, for serving food.

---

nappy ³ American  

[nap-ee] / ˈnæp i /

adjective

nappier, nappiest

1. Sometimes Offensive. (especially of a Black person's hair) tightly curled; kinky.

2. covered with nap; downy.

---

nappy ⁴ American  

[nap-ee] / ˈnæp i /

noun

British.

nappies plural

1. a diaper.

---

nappy ¹ British  

/ ˈnæpɪ /

adjective

1. having a nap; downy; fuzzy

2. 1. having a head; frothy

   2. strong or heady

3. dialect slightly intoxicated; tipsy

4. (of a horse) jumpy or irritable; nervy

---

noun

1. any strong alcoholic drink, esp heady beer

nappy ² British  

/ ˈnæpɪ /

noun

1. Also called: napkin.  US and Canadian name: diaper.  a piece of soft material, esp towelling or a disposable material, wrapped around a baby in order to absorb its urine and excrement

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nappiness
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• nappies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of nappy¹

First recorded in 1425–75; origin uncertain; probably from late Middle English noppi; see nap ², -y ¹

Origin of nappy²

First recorded in 1730–35; Middle English nap, Old English hnæpf, hnæp “cup, bowl” (further origin uncertain) + -y ²

Origin of nappy³

First recorded in 1490–1500; nap ² + -y ¹

Origin of nappy⁴

First recorded in 1925–30; nap(kin) + -y ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nappy nappies nappiest

“You also see the outside: baby’s dirty nappy or Margo’s ordinary knickers or track pants, all the unglamorous and unsexy things.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

"She was on a reduced timetable for most of the year and I had to go in to change her nappy because they weren't able to do that," she said.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

There was a large nappy on his head and hands and he had a wet wipe type cloth inserted in his mouth.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

He worried about small things like how to change a nappy or how hot his baby's bottle had to be, and felt everyone was "looking down" at him for being a young dad.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025

Margaret asked, “He didn’t take her out of the crib to change her nappy, did he?”

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg

I was lucky because I was there for my son’s first year — I didn’t have any Radiohead, so I changed the first nappies, and I loved it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

The catch is meagre -- small fish, lots of plastic bottles and too many used nappies.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

At 30 years and five months old, Lazare wore nappies, could no longer hear or see, and slept almost all day.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

It was when Karina was in a shop one day, with barely enough money to pay for bread and nappies for their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, that she decided to turn to paid surrogacy.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

Vivian said, “I kept thinking that Branwell, too, would find it a chore and just stop, but he didn’t. Even when I was there, he insisted on changing her nappies himself.”

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg

O, born beneath the Fishes' sign, Of constellations happiest, May he somewhere with Walton dine, May Horace send him Massic wine, And Burns Scotch drink,—the nappiest!

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 105, July 1866 by Various

Oh, born beneath the Fishes' sign,   Of constellations happiest, May he somewhere with Walton dine, May Horace send him Massic wine,   And Burns Scotch drink, the nappiest!

From The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell by Lowell, James Russell

Related Words

• diaper