nobody
Americanpronoun
noun
-
nobodies
plural
pronoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nobody
First recorded 1300–50; Middle English; see origin at no 2, body
Compare meaning
How does nobody compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the word nobody to mean "no one," or for someone who's completely unimportant or insignificant. It's not nice to call someone a nobody; everyone wants to be a somebody. If nobody is at home, you can ring the doorbell for an hour and get no response, and if nobody in your family likes pizza, there's no reason to order it for dinner. Since nobody means "no person," it's come to also have the meaning "insignificant person." It's hard not to feel like a nobody when your sister becomes famous after starring in a popular movie.
Vocabulary lists containing nobody
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:
What changed, slowly enough that nobody announced it, was the jar.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
Back home, he said, nobody trusts the local currency, but citizens are required by law to use it anyway.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
“How and why did nobody question these visuals?” he continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Given what he did on an immortal day at Hampden in 2016, no Hibs supporter wanted to boo the man they called Sir David Gray, nobody wanted to call for his head.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
But when I reach that house, a tidy little bungalow with a cat preening in the window, nobody answers the door.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
“They are both really nobodies; they’re both people doing a job,” O’Meara said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Once a star-making medium for nobodies with a dream and a microphone, podcasts are now dominated by the already-famous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
"We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing!"
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025
A small group of nobodies on TikTok saying dumb shit is not a viral trend that necessitates mass hysteria in response.
From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2023
Collectively they had more power than anyone in the bond markets, but individually they were nobodies.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
