ninny
Americannoun
plural
ninniesnoun
Other Word Forms
- ninnyish adjective
Etymology
Origin of ninny
1585–95; perhaps generic use of pet form of Innocent proper name; -y 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jane Austen wrote takedowns of this kind of ninny two centuries ago — how fun to see Pike update her twit to the post-Y2K era.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2024
The people who are from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan would have you believe that you are a ninny because you might wish for such a thing.
From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2018
When Life Is Beautiful won best foreign language film, its director Roberto Benigni won the hearts of the world by clambering across the backs of the auditorium’s chairs like a terrible manchild ninny.
From The Guardian • Feb. 24, 2017
Siegfried can seem a passive ninny in the traditional “Swan Lake”; here he’s even more passive and delusional.
From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2015
"And you're a clodpoll," said the girl, bitterly, "and a ninny, a numbskull, a lackwit and a coxcomb!"
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
