nervous Nellie

noun

Informal.

1. a constantly nervous, worried, or timid person.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nervous Nellie¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Idioms and Phrases

An unduly timid or anxious person, as in He's a real nervous Nellie, calling the doctor about every little symptom. This term does not allude to a particular person named Nellie; rather, the name was probably chosen for the sake of alliteration. [Colloquial; c. 1920]

Example Sentences

Stephanie, the president’s Nervous Nellie secretary, undergoes a personality change after dipping into Bernadette’s bag of pills.

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“Our entire staff is safe and although the restaurant sustained incredible damage the structure of the building is intact,” the ownership of Nervous Nellie’s, a seafood restaurant on the beach, said in a statement.

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“Don’t be such a nervous Nellie. I simply told him that you had never been to a picture show and that with everyone arriving tomorrow you wouldn’t have a chance for a good long bit. And isn’t that simply a tragedy?”

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One of the people least surprised to see Aldrich’s demeanor was his best friend from college, Utah State Coach Ryan Odom, who calls him “a nervous Nellie.”

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Finally, for a moment, the nervous Nellie replaced anxiety with happiness.

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