: someone or something of no or slight value or size
3
: a light, playful, or frivolous remark—usually plural
… from the time of their sitting down to table, it was a quick succession of busy nothings till the carriage came to the door … Jane AustenHe … had the most insinuating way of saying impertinent nothings to his doting female admirers. Charles Dickens
Pronoun There's nothing in my hands. She knows nothing of our plans. You have nothing to worry about. There's nothing fun to do around here. You think that's bad? It's nothing compared to what I went through. Don't get all upset over nothing. Your opinion means nothing to me. “Are you hurt?” “Don't worry. It's nothing.” Adverb She is nothing like her sister. It's nothing close to finished. Noun It appeared out of nothing. The UFO hovered for a while, then vanished into nothing. My children are important to me—I'm nothing without them. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But central banks can do nothing directly to increase productivity. Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, 2 Apr. 2020 Tearing down the names of Hood and Lee, that don’t change nothing.1843, 2 Apr. 2020 Four hours of early morning German grammar drills did nothing to help that situation. Sarah Wu, Glamour, 1 Apr. 2020 Dwelling on inadequacies does nothing to help people feel more prepared or in control of a desperate situation. Ryan Nickerson, Houston Chronicle, 1 Apr. 2020 But those deaths could have been as high as 2.2 million, if the U.S. did nothing, Mr. Trump said. Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2020 People don't make excuses for their friends who have done nothing wrong. Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, 31 Mar. 2020 There's nothing quite like being lulled to sleep by a wonderful bedtime story. Kelsey Hurwitz, Woman's Day, 31 Mar. 2020 The oldest species on our planet were microscopic, nothing more than itty-bitty specks. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Pronoun
Middle English, from Old English nān thing, nāthing, from nān no + thing thing — more at none
First Known Use
Pronoun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1