noun

nelly

neh-lee

noun

A silly or foolish person (informal, dated).

""Don't be such a nelly, just ask her out.""

"He felt a right nelly after tripping in front of everyone."

A large seabird related to the albatross, found in the Southern Ocean (the giant petrel).

"A nelly circled the ship for hours, riding the wind without a single wingbeat."

How to Use Nelly

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishAn old-fashioned, informal word for someone acting a bit silly or overly fussy — also the name of a big Southern Hemisphere seabird.

When to use it

Very dated and regional (mainly British/Australian slang); most modern readers will only meet it in older texts or as the bird name.

Word Forms

nellier comparative, nellies plural, nellies plural, nelliest superlative

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Etymology

Thought to come from the old slang phrase "nelly duff," rhyming slang for "puff," meaning breath or life — later softened into a general term for a foolish or timid person.

Rhymes for nelly

belly jelly telly Kelly smelly Shelly cruelly Connelly Donnelly underbelly squirrelly

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