nothing
pronounnounadverbadjectiveinterjectiontop 1 000 in film dialogue
- United States//ˈnʌθɪŋ//
- //ˈnʌtɪŋ//
- //ˈnʌʔn̩//
- //ˈnʌfɪŋ//
- //ˈnʊθɪŋ//
Not any thing; no thing.
pronoun
- 1
Not any thing; no thing.
Don't just say nothing. Tell me what's going on.
Nothing bad will happen, will it?
There remains nothing more to be done.
See? there’s nothing!
- 2
An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.
Etymology
From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).
noun
- 1
Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.
- What happened to your face? - It's nothing.
Sermons are not like curious inquiries after new nothings, but pursuances of old truths.
Knuckles: The Egg Carrier is nothing compared to this!
- 2
A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.
- 3
A nobody (insignificant person).
adverb
- 1
archaicNot at all; in no way.
Nothing too much out of the ordinary.
Nothing dismayed, I repeated my query.
The answer was an impatient one—but, nothing daunted, he continued.
The Motion from London to Syria is as much as nothing; and nothing altereth the relation which is between them.
adjective
- 1
Completely unimportant.
Dallas scored on what had seemed until then like a nothing play.
- 2
Lacking effort or commitment.
The cricketer played a nothing shot.
interjection
- 1
Never mind; it's not important; forget what I said.
Forms
- plural
- nothings