nelly
Americannoun
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
But you didn’t apologize and whoa nelly you didn’t butt out.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2018
And Neely’s nelly husband has $3 million, so there!
From Slate ● Feb. 1, 2016
“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 Poe, Edgar Allan
These birds, properly called giant petrels, are usually known as "nellies" or "stinkers"; the latter title being thoroughly justified on account of the disagreeable smell which comes from them.
From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir
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.
