nudge

¹

[ nuhj ]

verb (used with object)

, nudged, nudg·ing.

1. to push slightly or gently, especially with the elbow, to get someone's attention, prod someone into action, etc.

   Synonyms: jog, poke, elbow

verb (used without object)

, nudged, nudg·ing.

1. to give a nudge.

noun

1. a slight or gentle push or jog, especially with the elbow.

nudge

²

or noodge, nudzh

[ nooj ]

verb (used with object)

, nudged, nudg·ing.

1. to annoy with persistent complaints, criticisms, or pleas; nag:

   He was always nudging his son to move to a better neighborhood.

verb (used without object)

, nudged, nudg·ing.

1. to nag, whine, or carp.

noun

1. a person who nudges; pest.

nudge

/ nʌdʒ /

verb

1. to push or poke (someone) gently, esp with the elbow, to get attention; jog
2. to push slowly or lightly

   as I drove out, I just nudged the gatepost

3. to give (someone) a gentle reminder or encouragement

noun

1. a gentle poke or push
2. a gentle reminder

Derived Forms

• ˈnudger, noun

Other Words From

• nudger noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of nudge¹

1665–75; variant of dial. ( k ) nidge, akin to Old English cnucian, cnocian to knock

Origin of nudge²

1875–80; < Yiddish, stem of nudyen to bore < Polish nudzić; nudnik

Word History and Origins

Origin of nudge¹

C17: perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic nugga to push

Example Sentences

The revamped forms and text messages are examples of what behavioral scientists call nudges, relatively inexpensive behavior changers that stem from psychological research.

From Science News

Such nudges are preferable to simply letting moderators decide after the fact which content gets deleted and which can stay.

From Fortune

For instance, she speculated that the kind of cautionary nudges Nextdoor gives its users could also help make emails within companies kinder.

From Fortune

At first, laser pulses simply couldn’t be made short enough to deliver a sufficiently rapid sequence of nudges.

From Quanta Magazine

They reached out to 800 households and gave half of them a series of nudges designed to encourage environmentally friendly behaviors.

From Fortune

It was another of the nudge, nudge, wink, wink jokes that summed up the entire enterprise.

From The Daily Beast

(Mulgrew could actually nudge out Chlumsky and land that sixth slot).

From The Daily Beast

Crow married and says that midway through the Clinton presidency his wife began to nudge him to the left.

From The Daily Beast

I returned to the back of the swing, and again, gave it a wee nudge.

From The Daily Beast

And for a small—but not insignificant—number of people, pot can be the chemical nudge that causes them harm.

From The Daily Beast

It was beyond human nature for the detective man not to nudge Stanton once in the ribs.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the spectators ranged along the wall would burst out laughing, nudge each other and stamp their feet on the floor.

From Project Gutenberg

Hildreth gave me a nudge and a merry look and it pleased me to see she still had her sense of humour left.

From Project Gutenberg

She gave her friend a nudge, and pointed in the direction of the sounds, and the two watched and listened.

From Project Gutenberg

Mrs. Roberts, without seeming to be aware of their presence, lost not a wriggle or a nudge.

From Project Gutenberg

More About Nudge

Where does the word nudge come from?

As our definitions show above, nudge is a verb meaning “to push slightly or gently, specifically with an elbow when doing so literally, in order to get someone’s attention or to prod someone along.” A nudge is also a noun, meaning “a slight or gentle push or jog, especially with the elbow.”

But as far as we’re concerned, the origin of the word nudge could certainly stand to budge, as it’s often considered obscure.

However, we suspect nudge, found by 1665–75, comes from a dialectical variation of knidge or nidge, related to the Old English cnucian or cnocian, meaning “to knock.” Every now and again, maybe a stubborn word origin just needs a little … nudge.

Nudge isn’t alone: it finds lots of company in other English words that seem simple but whose origins are not. Discover more in our slideshow “‘Dog,’ ‘Boy,’ And Other Words That We Don’t Know Where They Came From.”

Did you know … ?

A nudge can be an annoying push (e.g., The guy behind me in line kept nudging me with his elbow). Or, a nudge can be a friendly, gentle reminder, as in I couldn’t figure out what the right answer was so my teacher gave me a little nudge in the right direction.

Nudge has a homograph in the word nudge, pronounced [ nooj ] and sometimes spelled noodge or nudzh. This nudge, referring to nagging, comes from Yiddish and is related to the word nudnik, “a persistently dull, boring pest”—perhaps like that feller who won’t stop nudging you in line!

A physical nudge is typically done with the elbow. (Just ask our friend in line.) While you certainly could nudge someone with other body parts, we often use other similar words, such as poke, jab, punch, tap, slap, bump, pat, or even lick, for these actions.