Dictionary

nobby en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English nob Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English nobby From nob + -y.

Meanings

1. (UK, informal) Wealthy or of high social position; of or pertaining to a nob (person of great wealth or social standing).
   • "[…]What makes it worse,” she continued, in the extremity of confidence, “I heard those two cricketing men say just now, 'She's the nobbiest girl on the boat.' But I don't mind it, you know, Harry." 1873, Thomas Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes, page 291:
   • I'll come back in the course of the evening, if agreeable to you, and endeavor to meet your wishes respecting this unfortunate family matter, and the nobbiest way of keeping it quiet. c. 1852-1853, Charles Dickens, edited by Levi C. Goodale and Charlie Lulledge, Works of Charles Dickens: Bleak House, published 1876, page 106:
2. (US, informal) Fashionable or chic.
   • 1925 April 11, Busybody, "Jottings About Town", in The New Yorker, page 25, Quite nobby are the suitings appearing on some of our better Fifth Avenue young men.
   • Alcibiades, was the nobbiest boy in Greece. 1933, Josephine Herbst, Pity Is Not Enough, page 37:
   • Undertaking?—why it's the dead-surest business in Christendom, and the nobbiest. 1883, Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, published 2007, page 152:

Forms

Deriveds

nobbiness · nobbily

Synonyms

classy (fashionable or chic)