nippy
Americanadjective
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chilly or cold.
morning air that feels a bit nippy.
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sharp or biting; tangy.
This cheese has a good, nippy taste.
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Chiefly British Informal. nimble; agile.
adjective
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(of weather) chilly, keen, or frosty
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informal
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quick; nimble; active
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(of a motor vehicle) small and relatively powerful
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(of the taste of food) biting, sharp, or pungent
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(of a dog) inclined to bite
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nippy
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:
On a nippy Monday night at the Zebulon in Frogtown, a man wearing a Jason Voorhees T-shirt steps onto a purple-lighted stage and stands next to a drum set.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025
"Here you find luxury cars that you don't even see in Europe," joked Moustapha from the wheel of a nippy little Suzuki.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025
The cabin was heated, which was truly welcome on the nippy day, but it didn’t stop us from jumping out whenever possible.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2025
Schiff’s rally, held on a nippy, mostly overcast morning, marked the start of a two-week statewide tour, with stops to include San Diego, Sacramento, Fresno and San Francisco.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 11, 2023
Stella and Jojo nodded solemnly and headed out into the nippy, sparkling morning.
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
The nippier Leceile improved all last year and may be able to get away from these rivals.
From The Guardian ● May 5, 2010
Popular pleasure shows itself in those hastening steps and brightened smiles encountered as the air grows nippier.
From Time Magazine Archive
That was perhaps too polite, Betsy feared, but Tommy said authoritatively, "No, the politer the nippier."
From Sentimental Tommy The Story of His Boyhood by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
The East throws a narrower and a nippier breed.
From The House with the Green Shutters by Brown, George Douglas
It was a frosty morning, and ye waylaid the maister on his way to the school, and the tawse were nippier than ordinar' that mornin'.
From Bog-Myrtle and Peat Tales Chiefly of Galloway Gathered from the Years 1889 to 1895 by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
On a recent trip to Japan, the press minibus wasn't the nippiest, its engine squealing to keep up with the slick Mercedes of the prime minister a dozen or so vehicles ahead.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2023
Bowe is among the most prolific wingers in Europe and the rapidly emerging Gilroy is among the nippiest, having made an eye-catching start to his Test career last month.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 14, 2012
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.
