nobody

1 of 2

pronoun

no·​body ˈnō-(ˌ)bə-dē How to pronounce nobody (audio)
-ˌbä-
: no person : not anybody

nobody

2 of 2

noun

plural nobodies
: a person of no influence or consequence

Examples of nobody in a Sentence

Pronoun Nobody could answer my question. I guess I'll have to volunteer because it's clear nobody else will. Noun He was a nobody in high school. tired of feeling like a nobody, she decided to launch her own business
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
People who have been nobodies all their lives will become household names overnight. Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 Those names hardly belong to nobodies, as Ruth Wisse pointed out in a review for Commentary. Jack Butler, National Review, 4 Nov. 2023 But if Neon loves its stars, its heart lies with the nobodies. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Oct. 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. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2023 Yes, White was Doc’s college roomie and Billy’s a skilled surgeon, but their shared trailer home/office and willingness to take any work tossed their way initially suggests that these two were basically nobodies orbiting Doc’s super-science mediocrity. Mat Olson, Vulture, 19 July 2023 As other creative industries disintegrated, Hollywood promised not just an escape hatch but a ladder to career advancement, as former nobodies like Severance creator Dan Erickson saw their pilot scripts pulled from slush piles and given full-season orders. Josef Adalian, Vulture, 6 June 2023 The wildly successful algorithm serves videos to multitudes of people who might not otherwise view them, propelling nobodies to stardom and turning small businesses into profit machines. Meryl Kornfield, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Apr. 2023 That film, a terrific one, told of how Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane scraped together a Basic Economy roster of promising nobodies through the use of sabermetric analysis. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nobody.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Pronoun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1583, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nobody was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near nobody

Cite this Entry

“Nobody.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nobody. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nobody

1 of 2 pronoun
no·​body ˈnō-bəd-ē How to pronounce nobody (audio)
-ˌbäd-ē
: no person : not anybody
nobody lives in that house

nobody

2 of 2 noun
plural nobodies
: a person of no importance

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