nobody

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: no body

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English nobody, no-body, no body, equivalent to a compound of no (none, not any, adjective) +‎ body (one, person, individual).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈnəʊ.bə.di/, /ˈnəʊ.bɒd.i/
    • (file)
    • (file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈnoʊ.bə.di/, /ˈnoʊˌbʌd.i/, /ˈnoʊ.bɑ.di/

Pronoun[edit]

nobody

  1. Not any person; the logical negation of somebody.
    I asked several people, but nobody knew how.
    As nobody who is not blind can have failed to notice, I had my hair cut just yesterday.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Nobody has a lower degree of formality than no one, but is still standard and is unremarkable in more formal contexts.
  • See more at no one

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

nobody (plural nobodies)

  1. Someone who is not important or well-known.
    • 1835, Charlotte Brontë, chapter XXVII, in Villette[1]:
      “‘The nobody you once thought me!’ I repeated, and my face grew a little hot; but I would not be angry: of what importance was a school-girl’s crude use of the terms nobody and somebody?”
  2. Something that has no body or an especially small one.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  • nobody”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.