noseeum

no·see·um
N1O1S1E1E1U1M3
US/noʊˈsi.əm/UK/nəʊˈsiː.əm/

noun

A biting midge, a small flying insect that harasses people outdoors, particularly in warm weather after sunset.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

nounnoseeum (plural noseeums)

plural noseeums · alternative no-see-em · alternative no-see-um

  1. colloquialA biting midge, a small flying insect that harasses people outdoors, particularly in warm weather after sunset.

    Noseeums will go right through a tent screen.

    1983, Bob Cary, The big wilderness canoe manual
    1 more example

    The minges and noseeums had found her now, so many of them buzzing around her head that her vision seemed to dance with black specks.

    1999, Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
  2. human sciencesThe inference that, because one cannot observe a reason for why something is true, that there is no reason why it is true.

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

A shortening of earlier no-see-um, a univerbation of no (“not, don't, cannot”) + see (“to perceive visually”) + um (alternative form of 'em, third-person singular/plural indicative pronoun).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

noseeum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noseeum

MLA

“noseeum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noseeum. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “noseeum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/noseeum.

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