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:
Instead, we’ve somehow arrived at a version where Gen Z has collectively decided drinking isn’t fun anymore, bars are empty because nobody under 30 leaves the house and nightlife itself is quietly dying.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
What makes this episode unusually clarifying is that nobody on the winning side seems to feel much need to disguise the motive.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
"An honest answer is: if it was opt-in, nobody would opt-in," Twitch's chief product officer Mike Minton said Wednesday during a live chat on the hugely popular gaming platform after the announcement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
"I love a good challenge. Hopefully it'll be a good race, a clean race, nobody falling over."
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Okay, I get it that nobody planned for us to end up here,” he said.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The film, though set 70 years in the past, is intentional about mirroring the way we now encounter fascinating strangers on social media, where huge stars with millions of followers are nobodies to everyone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
"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
For the second year in a row, there’s no Power Five nonconference opponent, just two relative nobodies plus a FCS gimme in North Carolina Central.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
At school, there were the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the popular kids—and then there were the nobodies like me.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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.
