ninny
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ninny
1585–95; perhaps generic use of pet form of Innocent proper name; see -y 2
Explanation
Use the word ninny for someone who's incredibly foolish — in other words, a dope or a nitwit. You might warn your brother not to be a ninny when he's just about to pop an entire hot chile in his mouth. Ninny is apt for someone who's silly and stupid, but it's also insulting and should be used with care. There's a certain gentle, teasing quality to ninny (as opposed to a word like idiot), but you're still going to get in trouble if you call your math teacher a ninny for giving the class a pop quiz. The word's origin is a bit of a mystery, though it may come from an innocent or the Italian word for "child," ninno.
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:
Jane Austen wrote takedowns of this kind of ninny two centuries ago — how fun to see Pike update her twit to the post-Y2K era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
Mr. Graham, with the work’s stark conclusion, leaves you feeling like a simplistic ninny for ever thinking it might have been.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2017
Achilles is a besotted fool; Patroclus a figure both narcissistic and stupid; Hector a fraud; Ulysses a hustler; Ajax a lout; Paris a ninny.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 24, 2015
You'd look quite good in a big helmet and a Nordic waistcoat.Dressed up as some old ninny.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 8, 2012
Later, when I told Doreen about his curious behavior, she said, "You ninny, he wanted his tip."
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
So, although the fact that there are a significant number of ninnies among the 329 million people in this country is embarrassing, it is not surprising.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2020
For having a connection to the internet, yet knowing you don’t have to engage the haters, idiots and/or spiteful ninnies on social media.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2018
Nothing will stop ninnies from their ninnying, but we can recognize that it is, for the most part, a ridiculous endeavor.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2018
People want to feel safe and have precdictability, yet we are right now a nation of scared ninnies, that cable, talk radio, and the 10 o'clock news only exacerabates.
From Time ● Jun. 6, 2013
“Other than the fact that they’re not wooden-headed ninnies who can only open their mouths to give orders and gossip?”
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
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.
