nickname
Americannoun
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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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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
- nicknamer noun
- unnicknamed adjective
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; newt
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.
The festival’s name is a cheeky play on Harry Potter’s nickname, “the boy who lived,” given to the character upon surviving a death curse.
From Los Angeles Times
His Fort Worth restaurant—named for his nickname, Chalio—features murals that reflect that family history.
From Salon
The necessary but perhaps inelegant design earned the Space Shuttle its own nickname: the “flying brick.”
From Los Angeles Times
The historian Rachel Trethewey corrects that in a lively biography, “Muv,” which takes its title from the nickname Sydney’s children bestowed on her.
He said the country is installing so-called protective "blue shields" -- nicknamed "the Red Cross of heritage" -- at archaeological sites.
From Barron's
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.
