Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A fool; a simpleton.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A fool; a simpleton.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A fool; a simpleton.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
silly orfoolish person
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a stupid foolish person
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Looks like that grinning ninny from the penis pill commercials.
Boing Boing 2009
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Looks like that grinning ninny from the penis pill commercials.
Boing Boing 2009
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Looks like that grinning ninny from the penis pill commercials.
Boing Boing 2004
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Looks like that grinning ninny from the penis pill commercials.
Boing Boing 2004
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A pile of newspapers and letters for the master of the house; the Newcome Sentinel, old county paper, moderate conservative, in which our worthy townsman and member is praised, his benefactions are recorded, and his speeches given at full length; the Newcome Independent, in which our precious member is weekly described as a ninny, and informed almost every Thursday morning that he is a bloated aristocrat, as he munches his dry toast.
The Newcomes 2006
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John remembered, Dr. Johnson had lived, and he tried to imagine the scene that took place on the night of misery when Oliver Goldsmith went to the Doctor and wept over the failure of _The Good Natured Man_, and was called a ninny for his pains.
The Foolish Lovers St. John G. Ervine 1927
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Oh Richard Whittington you have made me laugh, never in my life have I been called a ninny!
The Guardian World News Saeed Kamali Dehghan 2010
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By the way, this is the first time I've heard "ninny" used in a sentence by an adult in about 70 years.
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Leaving aside the "ninny" part, the analysis "it's a religion" means, among other things:
Ellis Weiner: The Fraudacity of Hope: Bush's Faith-Based Triumph 2008
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Another "ninny" played to-night, namely GIANNINNI, all right vocally, but not much dramatically.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, October 22, 1892 Various
arby commented on the word ninny
Probably short for nincompoop, no?
July 3, 2007
slumry commented on the word ninny
Good question--a quick look suggests not, though, if etymonline is to be trusted. Both apparently come from names. Ninny has a connotation of immature; nincompoop has more of a connotation of fool. It is a relief to me, because my mother sometimes called me a little ninny, but never a nincompoop. ;-)
July 3, 2007
slumry commented on the word ninny
Perhaps derived from the proper name Innocent. (etymonline)
July 3, 2007