Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Tending to nip: an exuberant, nippy puppy.
- adj. Sharp or biting: nippy cheese.
- adj. Bitingly cold: a nippy fall day.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Biting; sharp; acid: as, ginger has a nippy taste.
- Curt in manner; snappy or snappish.
- Parsimonious; niggardly.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Pleasantly cold and invigorating; -- of weather conditions.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. a sharp biting taste
- adj. pleasantly cold and invigorating
Etymologies
- nip + -y (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The 28-year-old's performance against the West Indians won praise from Windies captain Chris Gayle, who labelled the nippy left-hand speedster the most potent of the Australian attack to feature in Perth.”
Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7
“The 28-year-old's performance even won praise from Windies captain Chris Gayle, who labelled the nippy left-hand speedster the most potent of the Australian attack to feature in Perth.”
“Sometimes the euphoria can last up to two months or so, then those who have been held captive become more irritable and 'nippy'.”
The Guardian: Paul and Rachel Chandler: a period of decompression is needed
“| Reply | Permalink but during her questions to Obama at his press conference, did anyone notice her reaction to the weather over there ... it was rather "nippy" or least her nipples reacted that way.”
“Oh, and it's -5 out, which is kind of nippy for Embra.”
“I smoked for a bit, but it was getting kind of nippy, so I went for a walk.”
“As it’s still kind of nippy at night, I thought the bottle of Scotch might be effective heating … especially if you get bored lighting fires every evening.”
“Because Reece is the son of Don Topley, and therefore – despite being 6ft 7in, left-handed and reportedly a bit nippy – has the DNA of just the sort of medium-pace, doing-a-bit-off-the-seam fans of traditional English cricket are always on the lookout for.”
The Guardian: Let's drink to the dobbers – cricket's decaf bowlers | Harry Pearson
“A chill, such as 60-ish degrees with wind chill that adds a bit of a nippy breeze.”
The Huffington Post: HUFFPOST HILL - White House Shocking Response To Solyndra Subpoena..
“Try it out on a nippy night with a side of roasted veggies and a Belgian ale or a chilled fruity white wine.”
The Huffington Post: Organic Authority.com: Revamped Recipe: Dairy-Free Pumpkin Alfredo With Greens
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘nippy’.
-
Adjectives with 2 syllables that end ...
angry, bossy, busy, chilly, cheesy, creepy, dirty, early, funny, hairy, happy, healthy and 126 more...
-
Y
What a -Y does to an otherwise common, dull word
zany, waxy, wavy, arty, chewy, bony, boxy, cozy, nosy, foxy, wiry, junky and 321 more...
-
understatements
certain words seem given to usage in understatement, as pat phrases, by the mechanism of cliché; others because restraint, moderation or ambiguity are implicit in the words' definitions; and others...
no love lost, a minor inconveni..., that could have g..., he chose poorly, crossing the stre..., I've got a feelin..., slight miscalcula..., oh bother, not amused, no fun, a bit much, a little under th... and 55 more...
-
I am : cold
Cold adjectives.
cold, frigid, freezing, glacial, gelid, chill, crisp, cool, frosty, nippy, icy, brisk and 13 more...
-
Just 'cause I like 'em, N
nurdled, naumachia, nystagmus, nephology, nigh, noctilucent, noctambulant, nocebo, neap, napiform, nacelle, node and 95 more...
-
Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 2369 more... -
discoveries
These are lexical items new to me that I've discovered in actual use (i.e. not in dictionaries, lists, or this site).
Looking back over this list, I haven't the slightest idea what mos...haymow, hawsepipe, stridor, bariatric, autotelic, apotropaic, cyanotype, tourelle, autobody, zudecca, stifado, corbeille and 1073 more...
-
oldecat's Words
noncommutative, morphodynamics, ferrywoman, circumcircle, acceleration, inactivity, biodiesel, corrosion, quadrilogy, imprimitivity, normalizer, teleosemantics and 240 more...
-
2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
-
I
deftly, coracle, delectable, snug, sprawly, disquieting, dismiss, peer, chimney, cosy, nursery, peep and 48 more...
-
swipper
a venture into the indo-european roots weip- (to turn, twist or wrap) and nem- ( to divide, distribute or allot) exploring their paradoxical relationships along with other words between them in spe...
swipper, lightsome, quiver, snell, volant, epenthesis, tith, wight, flit, deft, yare, legerity and 41 more...
-
weathering heights
weather words
ground clouds, haze, mizzle, murk, brume, film, gloom, sunshine, frosty, storm, cirrostratus, cumulonimbus and 57 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for nippy.
qroqqa In the dining-car they were served by broad-hipped Czech nippies with tired faces and untreated hair.
—Julian Barnes, 1996, 'Tunnel', in Cross Channel
(Often specifically in reference to the waitresses of Lyons teashops.) Jul 14, 2008