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:
My sister Andrea, who is 5½ years younger, never really watched these with me — although you could argue that nobody could escape the constant “Clue” viewings in our house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
"We do a lot of things at Dollywood. They asked me if I would write a song that nobody would ever hear," she told "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
If nobody comes forward, child protective services would step in.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Venture capitalists lose money on most of what they fund, and nobody calls a failed startup a scandal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Unseen, unheralded; and he might die yet, and nobody would know: but even if no witnesses ever told it, it was still true.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
For context, they didn't go from nobodies to champions in Pocognoli's one season at the helm.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 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
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
“They had to start that low because they were nobodies, but now they’re a plurality of TV viewing,” said Mike Vorhaus, CEO of Vorhaus Advisors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2023
Especially not to ordinary nobodies like Kyle Keeley.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
