Dictionary

nancy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈnænsi/

Etymology

From Nancy, pet form of the female given names Agnes and Anne, under influence from earlier nan (“serving girl, maid; male homosexual”), itself from Nan, another pet form of the same names. Compare Mary.

Meanings

1. (Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, US, derogatory, offensive, slang) An effeminate man, especially a homosexual.
   • The wonderful Stephen Tobolowsky returns as Sandy [Ryerson], the flaming former glee club director who’s now the shop teacher, and warns that “you are going to have a school full of nancys unless you get some hot wood in those teenagers’ hands.” 2009 September 17, Mike Hale, “‘Glee’, Brought to You By the Letter ‘C’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2009:

Forms

Deriveds

nancy pants · nancy boy · nancified · nancy up · nancyboy · nance

Relateds

negative nancy

Synonyms

pansy · omi-palone · mama's boy (an effeminate man) · sissy · friend of Dorothy (a homosexual)