nickname
Americannoun
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nicknames
plural
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a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity.
He has always loathed his nickname of “Whizzer.”
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a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.
verb (used with object)
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nicknames,
present (3rd person singular)
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nicknamed,
past participle, past
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nicknaming
present participle
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to give a nickname to (a person, town, etc.); call by a nickname.
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Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.
noun
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a familiar, pet, or derisory name given to a person, animal, or place
his nickname was Lefty because he was left-handed
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a shortened or familiar form of a person's name
Joe is a nickname for Joseph
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nicknamesimple
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nicknamessimple
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have nicknamedperfect
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has nicknamedperfect
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am nicknamingprogressive
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are nicknamingprogressive
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is nicknamingprogressive
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have been nicknamingperfect progressive
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has been nicknamingperfect progressive
Past
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nicknamedsimple
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had nicknamedperfect
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was nicknamingprogressive
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were nicknamingprogressive
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had been nicknamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nickname
1400–50; late Middle English nekename, for ekename (the phrase an ekename being taken as a nekename ). See eke 2, name; cf. newt
Explanation
Your special, fond name for your cousin is a nickname. If his name is Steven, his nickname might be Steve — or it might very well be "Stinky" or "Junior." Nicknames can be shortened forms of first names or surnames; affectionate pet names; or names that tease or ridicule their recipient. If your name is David, but your friends call you "Dave," that's your nickname. If your sweetheart calls you "Honey," that's also a nickname. And if your coworkers call you "Skinny," there's your third nickname. Before the fifteenth century, the word was ekename, "an additional name," from the Old English eaca, "an increase."
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:
Most distance runners would shudder at the thought of grinding away on a machine so boring it has earned the nickname “dreadmill.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
He called himself "Sir Wicknell", a nod to the embellishment that epitomised his lifestyle - and a nickname some used for the 45-year-old who packed enough controversy into his short life to last several lifetimes.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
"I want to live on my own, so I think I'll use the money for the moving costs," said Suimii, the contest winner who only gave her nickname.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
On Wall Street, this dynamic has its own nickname — the “Fed put.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
I asked him where he got the nickname, and he said it was from a song.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
And residents have given their homes whimsical nicknames such as Sea Urchin, Surf Song and A Whistle Away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
CEO nicknames often are born of job cuts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
They have earned it the nicknames "Copper capital" and "World cobalt capital".
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
“These are the nicknames that Michael would give these young boys,” Amen said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
All those cute nicknames seem so affected, and Father’s fondness for talking about farting and going to the bathroom is disgusting.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
A short film has captured some of the last images of a derelict housing estate nicknamed "Scotland's Chernobyl" before demolition crews moved in.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
While stopped at a sandy ridge nicknamed "Chocolatal," Curiosity used its navigation cameras to photograph the surrounding landscape at two different times of day.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
Fear of cellphone crime has pushed an estimated 30 percent of Brazilians -- about 65 million people -- to keep a cheap second phone, nicknamed a "robber's phone," according to the FBSP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
They also showed her a photo of a portrait of Beata’s second-eldest son, Jacobus Johannes Christoffel, nicknamed Cootje, wearing a green jacket and holding a cane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
They nicknamed her Hilde, but her father soon began to call her his “little mouse.”
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
To kick off the globally renowned festival, Carpenter - headlining for the first time - turned the stage into the Hollywood Hills, nicknaming it "Sabrinawood".
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
Sokol earned a reputation for being hard-driving and sometimes difficult, with some nicknaming him “The Great Young God,” a nod to both his intelligence and his ego.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
Aside from nicknaming Haley “birdbrain,” Trump and his allies largely ignored her until recent weeks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
As with many a critically reviled Broadway musical, those who loved it banded together, nicknaming themselves “Difanas.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2022
The local racetrackers grew fond of the odd, bookish boy, nicknaming him Red, and a few let him ride their horses.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
