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 and her younger sister, Adria, were adopted by their maternal grandfather, Robert Biles, and his wife, Nellie, when Biles was 6.

From Los Angeles Times

She danced in her 20s when filming 1958’s “South Pacific,” in which she played Ensign Nellie Forbush in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical.

From Los Angeles Times

Dylan Hernández is prematurely predicting the Dodgers are going to win the World Series and Bill Plaschke is the negative Nellie already calling their season over?

From Los Angeles Times

According to another, a boyhood friend teasingly called Jones Parnellie, after the girl’s name, Nellie.

From Los Angeles Times

Kyle said it’s perhaps been most difficult for his younger daughter, three-year-old Eleanor “Nellie” Johnson, who doesn’t understand why her sister is getting so much attention or why her parents aren’t around as much.

From Seattle Times