Nellie

or Nel·ly

[ nel-ee ]

noun

1. a female given name, form of Helen.
2. (often lowercase) Slang.
   1. Offensive. a fussily effeminate male.
   2. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Nellie¹

First recorded in 1930–35 Nellie fordef 2

Idioms and Phrases

see nervous nellie .

Example Sentences

She continued to write, mostly through an advice column “Dear Nellie,” at The New York Evening Journal.

From The Daily Beast

She pulls us away from her major story again in lengthy chapters about Edith Carow Roosevelt and Nellie Herron Taft.

From The Daily Beast

And of course White Sox greats like Nellie Fox, Dick Allen, and Frank Thomas.

From The Daily Beast

But that prize must be deducted from the profits of the performance, objected the practical Nellie Agnew.

From Project Gutenberg

After searching through the house, Nellie ran out to the barn to look for the lost pet.

From Project Gutenberg

Nellie was always jealous of the welfare of the working class, and was ever vigilant as to its interests.

From Project Gutenberg

And Nellie Sinclair never in all her life sang that song so well as she did that night; and she never sang it again.

From Project Gutenberg

"There's nae word o' Mysie yet," said Nellie, when he came in, and her words seemed to shock him with their unexpectedness.

From Project Gutenberg