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:
People get nicknames and his nickname is 'Chucker'.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
This unease is so common it has a nickname: “white-coat syndrome.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Named as Bottega Veneta's creative director in 2021, he helped reinvent the Italian leather goods brand, earning him the nickname the "magician of Milan".
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
On Wall Street, this dynamic has its own nickname — the “Fed put.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
It’s easy to see how she got the nickname.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Let’s hear it for author David Winder for putting together a list of the top 50 most interesting high school nicknames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
CEO nicknames often are born of job cuts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Full Moons were given nicknames around the world as people used them to help keep track of time and monitor the changing seasons.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
They have earned it the nicknames "Copper capital" and "World cobalt capital".
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Oh, sure. People who don’t know her well—the government, her boss. We all have our official names, and then our nicknames, which are like secrets that only the people who love us use.”
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Scientists have nicknamed it the "Pac-Man enzyme" because its molecular structure features a remarkably wide opening where chemical reactions take place, known as the active site.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
The first — nicknamed El Cordonazo, or the Lash of St. Francis — hit Long Beach and San Pedro in September 1939.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
The Camp David property - set deep in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland - was first taken over as a retreat by President Franklin Roosevelt, who nicknamed it "Shangri-La".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
French intelligence services nicknamed Britain’s capital “Londonistan” decades ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
There was a nonpolitical prisoner among us, nicknamed Joe My Baby, who later joined the ANC and proved invaluable in helping us smuggle material in and out of prison.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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
The name Beaver Moon follows a longstanding tradition of nicknaming supermoons.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
Aside from nicknaming Haley “birdbrain,” Trump and his allies largely ignored her until recent weeks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
She took Sierra with her everywhere, nicknaming her “Fat Cat” for her voracious appetite.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 21, 2022
At some point after the nicknaming, our Radar grew about six inches and started wearing contacts, so I suppose that 3.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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