nickname

[ nik-neym ]
See synonyms for nickname on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity: He has always loathed his nickname of “Whizzer.”

  2. a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.

verb (used with object),nick·named, nick·nam·ing.
  1. to give a nickname to (a person, town, etc.); call by a nickname.

  2. Archaic. to call by an incorrect or improper name; misname.

Origin of nickname

1
1400–50; late Middle English nekename, for ekename (the phrase an ekename being taken as a nekename). See eke2, name; cf. newt

Other words from nickname

  • nicknamer, noun
  • un·nick·named, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nickname in a sentence

  • Nicknames among this class of poor whites in the South seem singularly like those in vogue in New England.

    Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
  • In these rages he called everybody who would bear it pigs, dogs, and other more unsavory nicknames.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • Many surnames have come down from nicknames given to people because of their good or bad qualities.

    Stories That Words Tell Us | Elizabeth O'Neill
  • "They rather like nicknames in this part of the world," he answered.

    The Opened Shutters | Clara Louise Burnham
  • The ears are particularly my own and have a defiant way of leaving the head that has earned a score of insulting nicknames.

    The Wasted Generation | Owen Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for nickname

nickname

/ (ˈnɪkˌneɪm) /


noun
  1. a familiar, pet, or derisory name given to a person, animal, or place: his nickname was Lefty because he was left-handed

  2. a shortened or familiar form of a person's name: Joe is a nickname for Joseph

verb
  1. (tr) to call by a nickname; give a nickname to

Origin of nickname

1
C15 a nekename, mistaken division of an ekename an additional name, from eke addition + name

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012