nelly
Americannoun
-
nellies
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nelly
First recorded in 1940–45; of uncertain origin
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:
That’s as fantastical of a demand as Sidney Lumet’s 1978 “The Wiz” insisting that the great diva Diana Ross’s Dorothy was a nervous nelly who’d never been south of Harlem’s 125th Street.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
Adding he had not been offered an opportunity to return to the BBC but that if he did his reply would be: "Not on your nelly."
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2022
That comes from Mr. de Jesús, whose unapologetically nelly Emory slowly displays an innate dignity beneath the flippancy and frivolity.
From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2018
But you didn’t apologize and whoa nelly you didn’t butt out.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2018
“Yeah man. Heah we nelly kill our fool selves runnin’ way from danger and him lay up dere and sleep and float on off!
From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
They don't lose any of the college-educated types by being nervous nellies.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2024
If they hoped this innocent stunt might escape the notice of the nervous nellies at the U.S.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 3, 2016
“All the nervous nellies on the call — I promise you, we are going to do better,” Bush told donors on a Wednesday conference call, according to people listening.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2015
Some driftwood floated by during the evening, and a great quantity of birds flew over, among which were nellies, peterels, albatrosses, and a large bird of a brilliant blue plumage.
From The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3 by Edgar Allan Poe
Bird life was plentiful, and we noticed Cape pigeons, whale-birds, terns, mollymauks, nellies, sooty, and wandering albatrosses in the neighbourhood of the ship.
From South: the story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 expedition by Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
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