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Synonyms

nixie

1 American  
[nik-see] / ˈnɪk si /

noun

  1. a letter or parcel that is undeliverable by the post office because of a faulty or illegible address.

nixie 2 American  
[nik-see] / ˈnɪk si /

noun

German Folklore.

  1. a female water spirit.

nixie British  
/ ˈnɪksɪ /

noun

  1. German myth a female water sprite, usually unfriendly to humans

"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

Etymology

Origin of nixie1

First recorded in 1880–85; nix 1 + -ie

Origin of nixie2

1810–20; < German Nixe ( Middle High German nickese, Old High German nicchessa; nix 2 ), perhaps construed at time of borrowing as nix 2 + -ie

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.

I think of the river and how, when one nixie detached from the others, Cardan waited until it paused and then left so we could get out of the water.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

On dancing rays and ripples is the laughing nixie; but suddenly breaks the first song of the main figures.

From Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies by Goepp, Philip H.

"This is a nixie trying to lure me to the depth," I thought.

From A King's Comrade A Story of Old Hereford by Whistler, Charles W. (Charles Watts)

"Here I am, papa!" cried a clear girlish voice, "wet as a nixie; we were up on the Wolkenstein all through the storm; just see how we look, Griff and I!"

From The Alpine Fay A Romance by Elisabeth Buerstenbinder (AKA E. Werner)

He's pretty well set up now, and he evidently has his eye upon this brown-eyed nixie.

From A Fascinating Traitor An Anglo-Indian Story by Savage, Richard

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.