nickname means A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic. It carries an Arena rating of 1448, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, nickname ranks #1,102 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,048 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,828 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #4,166 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
nickname is pronounced /ˈnɪkneɪm/.
Why “nickname” is a great word
A familiar or invented name for a person or thing, used instead of or in addition to the actual name, often drawn from a personal characteristic. It springs from a small corruption, the Middle English *neke name*, a rebracketing of the earlier *ekename* (from *eke*, "additional," and *name*), born from the casual slur of an indefinite article. Unlike "sobriquet," which often carries a formal, honorific, or literary weight, or "alias," which implies a cloak of secrecy for legal or clandestine ends, a nickname is an open secret, a token of intimacy. It is the childhood moniker that clings into adulthood like a burr, the affectionate shortening murmured among friends, or the teasing label earned from a single, defining moment—a small, human attempt to claim the impersonal through the personal.
Etymology
From Middle English neke name, alteration (due to a rebracketing of an ekename as a nekename) of earlier ekename (“nickname”), from eke (“additional”) + name. Compare Old Norse aukanafn, auknafn, auknefni, Faroese eyknevni, Danish øgenavn, Norwegian Nynorsk aukenamn, Swedish öknamn, and German Low German Ökelname. For other similar cases of incorrect division, see also apron, daffodil, newt, orange, umpire.
noun
- A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic.e.g.“"The Big Apple" is a common nickname for New York City.”
- A familiar, shortened or diminutive name for a person or thing.e.g.“My name is Jonathan, but I go by my nickname, Johnny.”
verb
- To give a nickname to (a person or thing).e.g.“Gerald, nicknamed "Jerry", was usually a very cheerful person.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.