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View synonyms for nervous Nellie
nervous Nellie
noun
, Informal.
- a constantly nervous, worried, or timid person.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of nervous Nellie1
First recorded in 1925–30
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Idioms and Phrases
An unduly timid or anxious person, as in He's a real nervous Nellie, calling the doctor about every little symptom . This term does not allude to a particular person named Nellie; rather, the name was probably chosen for the sake of alliteration. [ Colloquial ; c. 1920]Advertisement
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.
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