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Glite Dictionary
🏷️ An informal name 🏷️ To give a name
to nickname

to nickname

49 2.0
To give an informal name to a person, place, or thing that shows something about it
  • verb
  • /ˈnɪkˌneɪm/
  • Informal
translation icon : apodar
  • As a baby, I was nicknamed Lard Bottom by my brilliant but warped Uncle Al.
  • nicknamed 'El'

Wilt Chamberlain's big guy was nicknamed the Stilt.

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Examples

  • I nicknamed her Paula, and we became very close.

    I Can't Breathe (God Forgive Them) (2022)

  • The position was now so strong the French nicknamed it Little Gibraltar.

  • And I, I will say this, you know, I was nicknamed the gift, right?

  • South Africa is nicknamed the Rainbow Nation because of the diversity of people who call it home.

    Academic text (2015)

  • The officers have nicknamed it Park Lane after the poshest street in London.

    S.O.S. Titanic (1980)

  • Adah was thankful for this child, so perfect and beautiful that she nicknamed her 'Sunshine.'

    Fiction book (1990)

  • He was so calm that people nicknamed him the Buddha.

    Robert Greene

  • The first name is Theodore, nicknamed Theo.

  • Yes, George Stanley Halas, nicknamed Papa Bear, was born into a family of, check, Bohemian immigrants.

    Christmas With the Karountzoses (2015)

  • I nicknamed my cat Whiskers because of her long fur.

Synonyms

to call
vsto nickname
∞ 1.0

To give a name to someone or something and sometimes to say they are a certain kind

is specifically an informal substitute for the real label or term
to name
vsto nickname
∞ 1.0

To give a word people use to identify someone or something

is used informally to replace the real label rather than give official identity
to dub
vsto nickname
78 4.8

To give an unofficial name to a person or thing

is more commonly a friendly informal replacement for the real name
to tag
vsto nickname
15 2.4

To give someone or something a name, often a short nickname

is used specifically instead of the real name in informal situations

Compounds

playful nickname
  • Informal
3.7

A friendly funny name people give someone

How Informal

to nickname
  • Informal
49 2.0
to dub
78 4.8
to call
∞ 1.0
to name
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

nickname infinitive
nicknamed past
nicknamed past participle
naming present participle
nicknames third person singular

Etymology

Nickname as a verb means to give someone an extra or familiar name. It comes from the same old eke-name, where eke meant 'also' or 'additional', so to nickname someone is to give them a close, extra name.