Word.ws English Dictionary

noddy

Syllables: nod·dy/ˈnɒdi//ˈnɑdi/

noddy noun: a silly or stupid person; a fool, an idiot.

noddy: a silly or stupid person; a fool, an idiot
Image: Aviceda, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

noddy (countable and uncountable, plural noddies)

  1. (archaic, countable) A silly or stupid person; a fool, an idiot.
    • I graunt for my parte by fayth of my body / why where the deuyll is this horeſon nody1534, John Heywood, A Play of Loue, […], [London]: […] W[illiam] Rastell, →OCLC, signature C.iii., recto
    • Hum[phrey]. If it be ſo, my friend, you vſe me fine, / VVhat do you thinke I am? / Iasp[er]. An arrant noddie / Hum. A vvord of obliquie, novv by Gods bodie, / I'le tell thy maiſter for I knovv thee vvell.1607 (first performance), [Francis Beaumont], The Knight of the Burning Pestle, London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Walter Burre, […], published 1613, →OCLC, Act II, signature [D4], recto
  2. (countable, historical) In full knave noddy: the jack or knave playing card.
    • The ſpout of ſport, and follies turtle Doue, / Noddie turn'd vp, all made, yet loſe the tricke.1611, Glareanus Vadianus [pseudonym], “A Sceleton or Bare Anatomie of the Punctures and Iunctures of Mr. Thomas Coryate of Odcombe, […]”, in Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], Coryats Crudities...
    • You vvant four, and I tvvo, and my Deal: Novv, Knave noddy—no, Hearts be Trumps.1757 February 5 (first performance), [Samuel] Foote, The Author; a Comedy, […], London: […] R. Francklin, […]; and sold by P. Vaillant, […], published 1757, →OCLC, Act II, page 27
  3. (historical, uncountable) In full noddy-fifteen: a certain card game related to cribbage.
    • [W]ell let not me take you at Noddy anie more, leaſt I preſent you to the pariſh for a gamſter, this is the ninth ſet that you haue loſt, and yet you will not leaue off.[1589?], Cutbert Curry-knaue [pseudonym; Thomas Nashe], An Almond for a Parrat, or Cutbert Curry-knaues Almes. […], [London]: […] [Eliot’s Court Press], →OCLC, folio 18, verso
    • Let 'hem embrace more frugal pastimes. VVhy ſhould not the thriftie and right vvorſhipfull game of Poſt and payre content 'hem? Or the vvittie inuention of Noddie, for counters? or God make them rich, at the Tables? but Masking, and Reuelling?1612 January 16 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Love Restored, in a Masque at Court, […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby...
    1. (broadly, historical, obsolete, slang) Synonym of sexual intercourse.
      • I left her at Cardes, ſhee'll ſit vp till you come, becauſe ſhee'll haue you play a game at Noddie; […]1601–1602 (date written), attributed to Thomas Dekker and/or Thomas Middleton, Blurt Master-Constable. Or The Spaniards Night-walke. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Henry Rockytt, […], published...

Adjective (1)

noddy (comparative more noddy, superlative most noddy)

  1. (England, regional) Foolish, silly, stupid.
    • For that no man shulde se / Nor rede in any scrolles / Of theyr dronken nolles, / Nor of theyr noddy polles, […]1521–1522, John Skelton, “Here after Followeth a Litel Boke Called Colyn Cloute, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […]...
    • I beſeech you, VVill your VViſdoms, or common Senſe, or Underſtanding, or vvhat you vvill call it, approve of nothing in our Common-Prayer Book, that you preſent us vvith an inane nihil, a nevv Directory of a noddy Synod, or find you ſo many Deficiencies in Monarchical Government, that you ſhould...1648, “The British Bellman”, in [Samuel Johnson, William Oldys], editors, The Harleian Miscellany: Or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, as Well in Manuscript as...

Verb

noddy (third-person singular simple present noddies, present participle noddying, simple past and past participle noddied)

  1. (obsolete, rare, transitive) Synonym of noddify (“to make (someone) into a noddy (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1), to make a fool of”)
    • If ſuch an Aſſe be noddied for the nonce, / I ſay but this, to helpe his Idle fit; / Let him but thanke himſelfe for lacke of VVit, […]1600, N[icholas] B[reton], Pasquils Fooles-cap Sent to Such (to Keepe Their Weake Braines Warme) as are Not Able to Conceiue Aright of His Mad-cap. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock], for Thomas...
    Synonyms:
    noddify

Noun (2)

noddy (plural noddies)

  1. Any of several stout-bodied, gregarious terns of the genus Anous found in tropical seas, especially the brown noddy or common noddy (Anous stolidus).
    • VVe savv no Land this Day, but ſavv a great many Snakes and ſome VVhales. VVe ſavv alſo ſome Boobies, and Noddy-birds; and in the Night caught one of theſe laſt. […] The Top or Crovvn of the Head of this Noddy was Coal-black, having alſo ſmall black Streaks round about and cloſe to the Eyes; and...1703, William Dampier, chapter III, in A Voyage to New Holland, &c. in the Year 1699. […]. Vol. III, London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 142
    • The Rocks and outer Lines of the Iſland, are the Haunts of variety of Sea-Birds, eſpecially Boobies and Noddies; […] The Noddies are ſmaller and flat footed alſo.1724, Charles Johnson [pseudonym], “A Description of the Islands of St. Thome, Del Principe, and Annobono”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T....
  2. (Ireland, Scotland, historical) A small two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.
    • [S]he has brought over a nevv language vvith her. […] VVhy a new kind of a London Engliſh, that's no more like our Iriſh Engliſh, than a coxcomb's fine gilded chariot like a Glaſſmanogue [i.e., Phibsborough, Dublin] noddy.1761 (first performance), Charles Macklin, The True-born Irishman; or, Irish Fine Lady. A Comedy of Two Acts, Dublin: Sold by the booksellers, published 1783, →OCLC, Act I, page 8
    • "By Jove, I think one of us must go into town.[…]" / "Let's see Nutter—you or I must go—we'll take one of these songster's "noddies."["] [A "noddy," give me leave to remark, was the one-horse hack vehicle of Dublin and the country round, which has since given place to the jaunting car, which is, in...1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “How a Squire Was Found for the Knight of the Rueful Countenance”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, pages 92–93
  3. (Multicultural-London-English, slang) Synonym of fellatio.
    • Bakin' off of this light skin hottie / Sweet ting, arch ya up and give noddy2024 January 14, “Aint a Joke”, Bobby Shmurda [pseudonym; Ackquille Jean Pollard], Dontplay [pseudonym] (lyrics), [United Kingdom]: Y2O Records, 1:39 from the start
    Synonyms:
    fellatio
  4. (Newfoundland, Northeastern, US) Synonym of northern fulmar (“an Arctic seabird, Fulmarus glacialis”).
    Synonyms:
    northern fulmar
  5. (UK, informal) A cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding at the person being interviewed (or sometimes the interviewee nodding at the interviewer), often used to cover an editing gap in an interview.
    • Noddies are often filmed after the interview in question has finished.
    Synonyms:
    nodder, noddy headshot, noddy-shot, nod shot
  6. (obsolete) In clockmaking and watchmaking: an inverted pendulum consisting of a short, vertical, flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top, which is used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.
    • The elegant inverted Pendulum or Noddy contrived by the late Mr Hardy, suggested to me a different arrangement. […] It is evident that, by adjusting the stiffness of the wire, or the height of the ball C, we may alter to any extent the relation of the forces of Elasticity and of Gravity, and...1841 April 19 (date delivered), James D[avid] Forbes, “XIII.—On the Theory and Construction of a Seismometer, or Instrument for Measuring Earthquake Shocks, and Other Concussions.”, in Transactions...
  7. (obsolete, rare) In at noddy: a state of being asleep.
    • In Paternoſter-rovv, vve found a fellovv at nodie upon a ſtall, vvith his Lanthorn and Candle by him, having firſt ſeized on that, and throvvn it into the Kennel, vve proſecuted our abuſe by falling upon him, and beating him. […] [T]o our coſt, vve found him as nimble and as light footed as a Stag...1665, Richard Head, “How He Frequented Bawdy-houses; what Exploits He Committed in Them; the Character of a Bawd, a Whore, a Pimp, and a Trapan; Their Manner of Living; with a Detection of Their...

Adjective (2)

noddy (comparative more noddy, superlative most noddy)

  1. (archaic) Drowsy, sleepy.
    • […] I'll say a prayer and try to go to sleep. I feel very noddy all at once.a. 1865 (date written; first published 1872 January–August), Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Una Hawthorne, Septimius Felton; or The Elixir of Life, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company...

noddy meaning in Bengali

noddy in Bengali

হাবাগবা লোক
More languagesFewer languages
Dhivehi
މާރަނގަ māraⁿga

Examples of noddy in a sentence

  • VVhy, vvhat a noddy have I been, to take this ſtrapper alvvays for a girl!1794 December 6 (first performance), [Hannah] Cowley, The Town before You, a Comedy, […], London: […] G[eorge] Woodfall, for T[homas]...
  • [T]hough I am but a simple noddy, / I think one Shakespear [William Shakespeare] puts the same thought in / The mouth of some one in his plays so doating, / Which many people pass for wits by quoting.1823 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos VI.—VII.—and VIII., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto VII, stanza...
  • At last the people in a body / To the Town Hall came flocking: / "'Tis clear," cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy; / And as for our Corporation—shocking[…]"1842–1845, Robert Browning, “[Dramatic Romances and Lyrics.] The Pied Piper of Hamelin; a Child’s Story. […].”, in Poems […], new edition...
  • [H]e told me he had him at command when he was a page, but by plaieing to [too] much at primeroe and noddy he loſt Time and his monie to [too].a. 1634 (date written), John Day, “Peregrinatio Scholastica or Learneinges Pillgrimage […]. The Twentithe Tractate.”, in A[rthur] H[enry]...

Synonyms of noddy

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of noddy

Forms of noddy

Noun
pluralnoddies
Adjective
comparativemore noddy
superlativemost noddy
Verb
third-person singular presentnoddies
present participlenoddying
past participlenoddied
pastnoddied

Origin of noddy

Noun etymology 1 sense 1 is possibly from nod (“to incline the head up and down; to gradually fall asleep”) + -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns or familiar names); or a shortening of noddypoll, an obsolete alteration of hoddypoll (“fumbling, inept person”). The origin of noun etymology 1 sense 2 is uncertain; it is possibly derived from etymology 1 sense 1. Compare muggins (“fool, idiot; card game based on building in suits or matching exposed cards, the object being to get rid of one’s cards”). The origin of the adjective is uncertain; it is possibly also from nod (verb) + -y (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from noun etymology 1 sense 1.

From nod (“to incline the head up and down; to gradually fall asleep”) + -y (suffix forming diminutive nouns or familiar names; and meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Noun etymology 2 sense 1 (“tern of the genus Anous”) possibly refers to the nodding behaviour of the birds during courtship. Etymology 2 sense 3 (“fellatio”) refers to the nodding motion of the head of a person performing the sex act. Etymology 2 sense 5 (“cutaway scene of a television interviewer nodding”) was coined by the English cultural theorist and media scholar John Fiske (1939–2021) in 1987. Etymology 2 sense 6.2 (“state of being asleep”) is possibly a pun on etymology 1, noun sense 2.2.1 (“sexual intercourse”).

Words formed from noddy

Phrases with noddy

Words that rhyme with noddy

Questions about noddy

What does noddy mean?
Noddy means a silly or stupid person; a fool, an idiot.
What is noddy in Bengali?
Noddy in Bengali is হাবাগবা লোক. See Noddy meaning in Bengali.
How do you use noddy in a sentence?
VVhy, vvhat a noddy have I been, to take this ſtrapper alvvays for a girl!
What part of speech is noddy?
Noddy can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce noddy?
Noddy is pronounced /ˈnɒdi/ (UK).
What is the plural of noddy?
The plural of noddy is noddies.

Words near noddy in the dictionary

  1. noddings
  2. noddle
  3. noddled
  4. noddles
  5. noddling
  6. noddy
  7. Noddy cap
  8. Noddy caps
  9. Noddy suit
  10. Noddy suits
  11. noddying

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: noddy (page history and authors); noddy (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-noddy.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-noddy.wav.

Cite this entry: “noddy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/noddy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.