nancy

nan·cy
N1A1N1C3Y4
/ˈnænsi/[ˈnɛənsi]

noun

An effeminate man, especially a homosexual.

CommonScrabble 10

Meanings

nancy1

nounnancy (plural nancies or nancys)

plural nancies · plural nancys · alternative Nancy

  1. AustraliaIrelandNew ZealandUKUSderogatoryoffensiveslangAn effeminate man, especially a homosexual.

    The wonderful Stephen Tobolowsky returns as Sandy [Ryerson], the flaming former glee club director who’s now the shop teacher, and warns that “you are going to have a school full of nancys unless you get some hot wood in those teenagers’ hands.”

    2009 September 17, Mike Hale, “‘Glee’, Brought to You By the Letter ‘C’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2009

    Synonyms: mama's boy, pansy, sissy, omi-palone, friend of Dorothy

Nancy2

proper nounNancy (plural Nancys or Nancies)

plural Nancys · plural Nancies

  1. A female given name.

    Maplewood, New Jersey Mayor Nancy Adams said her community banned gas-powered blowers in January 2023.

    2024 June 20, Wayne Parry, “U.S. bans on gasoline-powered leaf blowers grow, as does blowback from landscaping industry”, in AP News, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2024
    5 more examples

    I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy, Naething could resist my Nancy: But to see her was to love her; Love but her, and love forever.

    1792, Robert Burns, Ae Fond Kiss

    "And they've got lovely names, too. You'll like their names," sighed Nancy. "They're 'Algernon' and 'Florabelle' and 'Estelle'. I - I just hate Nancy!" "Oh, Nancy, what a dreadful thing to say! Why?" "Because it isn't pretty like the others. You see, I was the first baby, and mother hadn't begun ter read so many stories with the pretty names in them, then."

    1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC

    There are many Nancies and Jerries in the world. They get told apart by a further name, such as Nancy Lovelace, or Jerry Turing.

    2003, Ira Pohl, “Nested Classes”, in C# by Dissection: The Essentials of C# Programming, Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 249

    Their agent, Nancy Phander, sent along a virutal^([sic]) 3D tour and a video tour and they put in an offer based on what they saw.

    2020 June 26, Anna Bahney, “These people bought homes without ever stepping inside”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2021

    Prior to the House passing the legislation, only four Republicans had joined all Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote - Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

    2025 November 18, Brandon Drenon, “The only 'no' vote on releasing Epstein files”, in BBC, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2025
nounNancy (plural Nancies or Nancys)

plural Nancies · plural Nancys

  1. Alternative letter-case form of nancy.

    Get up you sad Nancies!

    2025, S.E. Case, chapter 1, in Rigsby WI, volume 1: Foothold, →ISBN, retrieved 28 Aug 2025, page 89
    3 more examples

    HAWKER, the Australian, who is to handle the Sopwith plane, predicts that any fast steamer out of New York will have no difficulty in beating the “Nancies” of the United States Navy.

    1919 May 8, “The Waiting Airmen”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025

    Funny peculiar: Ganymede promising latitude, if not liberation. The Boy Done Good. For Nancies. He might, however, mean something vastly different for Normals, who are quietly - one could even say covertly - being invited to role model their increasing redundant selves on that darling petal Leonardo DeCaprio.^([sic])

    1998 April 2, John Lyttle, “By Zeus, are you ready for the golden boy - Ganymede Redux?”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025

    In Ashes to Ashes, DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), the Neanderthal copper from 1973, has moved to London from Manchester to show the 'southern Nancys' a thing or two about policing.

    2008 January 20, Beth Willis, “Ashes to Ashes: Life after Mars”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2010

Nancy3

proper noun
  1. A city in Meurthe-et-Moselle department, Grand Est, north-eastern France.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn effeminate man, especially a homosexual.

Origin

nancy · noun

From Nancy, pet form of the female given names Agnes and Anne, under influence from earlier nan (“serving girl, maid; male homosexual”), itself from Nan, another pet form of the same names. Compare Mary.

Full word history & related roots →

Nancy · proper noun, noun

Medieval diminutive of Ann and Agnes. Compare Betsy, Patsy.

Full word history & related roots →

Nancy · proper noun

  1. Old High GermanNanzig
  2. Medieval LatinNanciacum
  3. FrenchNancy
  4. EnglishNancy

From French Nancy, from Medieval Latin Nanciacum, from Old High German Nanzig.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic نَانْسِي
  • نَانْسِي (nānsī)female given name
Bulgarian Нанси́
  • Нанси́ (Nansí)city in northeastern France
Chinese Mandarin 南希, 南茜
  • 南希 (Nánxī)female given name
  • 南茜 (Nánxī)female given name
  • 南錫 /南锡 (Nánxī)city in northeastern France
French Nancy, Nancy
  • Nancyfemale given name
  • Nancycity in northeastern France
German Nanzig
  • Nanzigcity in northeastern France
Greek Νάνσι, Νανσί
  • Νάνσι (Nánsi)female given name
  • Νανσί (Nansí)city in northeastern France
Japanese ナンシー
  • ナンシー (Nanshī)female given name
Korean 낸시
  • 낸시 (Naensi)female given name
Russian Нэ́нси, Нанси́
  • Нэ́нси (Nɛ́nsi)female given name
  • Нанси́ (Nansí)city in northeastern France
Welsh Nansi
  • Nansifemale given name

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with nancy

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

nancy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nancy

MLA

“nancy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nancy. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nancy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nancy.

Source: nancy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.