English Explanatory Dictionary

noddy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A silly or stupid person; a fool, an idiot.
  2. In full knave noddy: the jack or knave playing card.
  3. In full noddy-fifteen: a certain card game related to cribbage.
  4. Synonym of sexual intercourse.
adj
  1. Foolish, silly, stupid.
verb
  1. Synonym of noddify (“to make (someone) into a noddy (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1), to make a fool of”)
noun
  1. Any of several stout-bodied, gregarious terns of the genus Anous found in tropical seas, especially the brown noddy or common noddy (Anous stolidus).
  2. A small two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.
  3. Synonym of fellatio.
  4. Synonym of northern fulmar (“an Arctic seabird, Fulmarus glacialis”).
  5. A cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding at the person being interviewed (or sometimes the interviewee nodding at the interviewer), often used to cover an editing gap in an interview.
  6. In clockmaking and watchmaking: an inverted pendulum consisting of a short, vertical, flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top, which is used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.
  7. In at noddy: a state of being asleep.
adj
  1. Drowsy, sleepy.

Pronunciation

/ˈnɒdi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-noddy.wav /ˈnɑdi/ [-ɾi] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-noddy.wav

Word forms

noddy noddies more noddy most noddy noddying noddied

Etymology

Noun sense 1 is possibly from nod (“to incline the head up and down; to gradually fall asleep”) + -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns or familiar names); or a shortening of noddypoll, an obsolete alteration of hoddypoll (“fumbling, inept person”). The origin of noun sense 2 is uncertain; it is possibly derived from sense 1. Compare muggins (“fool, idiot; card game based on building in suits or matching exposed cards, the object being to get rid of one’s cards”). The origin of the adjective is uncertain; it is possibly also from nod (verb) + -y (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from noun sense 1.

Synonyms

addle-brain addlehead addle pate airhead baboon beanbrain beetlebrain beetlehead berk bimbo birdbrain blockhead blubberbrain bonehead Boeotian boob bozo brainlet brickhead bubblehead bubble brain bufflehead buffoon Charlie chowderhead chucklehead chump cittern-head clod clodpate clot clown crackhead cretin cuckoo deadhead dimbo dim bulb dimbus dimwit dingbat ding dong dingleberry dingwad dip dipstick doldrum dolt donut doodle doof doofoid doofus dope dork drivel drongo drool bucket dullard dumb bunny

Derived words

hoddy-noddy niddy-noddy nod noddify noddypoop noddyship poop-noddy supernodical supernodify
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