nippy
chilly or cold: morning air that feels a bit nippy.
sharp or biting; tangy: This cheese has a good, nippy taste.
Chiefly British Informal. nimble; agile.
Origin of nippy
1Words Nearby nippy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use nippy in a sentence
Summer is starting to retreat and the morning air is already nippy.
But nippy would keep on doing it until everything was gone.
Speed Read: Juiciest Bits From Cissy Houston’s ‘Remembering Whitney’ | Melissa Leon | January 31, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe air was getting a little nippy, as Buster called it; so that several of the motorboat boys had donned their sweaters.
Motor Boat Boys' River Chase | Louis ArundelHe remembered that he had ridden in one a few days before and that it was what he called "nifty and nippy."
Mixed Faces | Roy NortonYer'd best look nippy and come into the kitchen and 'ave yer brekfus'.
Sue, A Little Heroine | L. T. Meade
Even elderly ladies who looked with abhorrence upon the drinking habit were not denied their wee bit nippy.
One Third Off | Irvin S. CobbHe directed the men to help him onto his feet and soon came back with his old-fashioned nippy gait.
Personal Recollections of the War of 1861 | Charles Augustus Fuller
British Dictionary definitions for nippy
/ (ˈnɪpɪ) /
(of weather) chilly, keen, or frosty
British informal
quick; nimble; active
(of a motor vehicle) small and relatively powerful
(of the taste of food) biting, sharp, or pungent
(of a dog) inclined to bite
Derived forms of nippy
- nippily, adverb
- nippiness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse