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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

nimby en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈnɪm.bi/

Etymology

Acronym of not in my back yard. More at NIMBY.

Meanings

  1. Not wanting to have to deal with unpleasant or distasteful things near them.
    • Their vote against measures to help refugees has been perceived by the socially conscious margin of society as a typically nimby attitude.
    • […] to be obvious exaggerations of the threats, but rather focused on critiquing the means employed—i.e., the various enforcement techniques that adversely affected innocent bystanders—and in a very nimby (not in my back yard) sort of way. 2010, Timothy J. Dunn, Blockading the Border and Human Rights, page 32:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
NIMBY alternative lexicographic
most nimby Degree=Sup lexicographic
more nimby Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Antonyms

YIMBY

Deriveds

nimbyism · nimbyist · nimbyish

Relateds

BANANA - acronym similar to NIMBY

nimby en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈnɪm.bi/

Etymology

Acronym of not in my back yard. More at NIMBY.

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, usually) Someone who objects to the building of an undesirable structure in their neighborhood, especially in public policy debate.
    • Of course, in China everything is determined by the state. So many times, when I asked how China had managed to build this network so quickly, I was told that it was because the government had backed it. And, of course, there are fewer Nimbys in an authoritarian state. 2025 April 16, Christian Wolmar, “Hugely impressed by China's high-speed rail network”, in RAIL, number 1033, page 42:
    • politically correct green (as in vegetation) nimbies (may object to nuclear power plants, polluting factories, etc.)
    • fiscally conservative green (as in money) nimbies (may object to the building of anything which may decrease preexisting property values)
    • socially conservative brown (as in shirts) nimbies (may object to the building of jails, prisons, housing for ex-convicts, drinking or adult entertainment establishments)

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
NIMBY alternative lexicographic
nimbies Number=Plur lexicographic
nimbys Number=Plur lexicographic

nimby en · X

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈnɪm.bi/

Etymology

Acronym of not in my back yard. More at NIMBY.

Meanings

  1. (UK, US) Not in my backyard (in objection to an undesirable structure built locally).

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
NIMBY alternative lexicographic