Meanings
comparative nubbier · superlative nubbiest
- Knobbly; covered with small knobs.
noil A type of silk, sometimes incorrectly called raw silk, with a nubby feel and a low sheen.
2007, Marie Clayton, The Ultimate A to Z Companion to 1,001 Needlecraft Terms - Nub-like, resembling a small bump or protrusion; stubby.
Now we are sitting in a circle and each is given a stenographer's pad, the kind with the spring spine, and a nubby pencil, a pencil of quarter size so it can't be used as a weapon [...]
2010, John Leigh Walters, A Very Capable Life: The Autobiography of Zarah Petri, page 1701 more example
Xavier (Unknown Fan #1): Excuse me, miss. I seem to have lost my way. Could you point me in the right direction? Stranger (Unknown Fan #2): Well, shoot, stranger. My pointin' days are long gone, what with these prosthetic limbs and all. Xavier: What the hell? Who transformed your form, messed with your temple, altered your altar, modied ^([sic]) your body? Stranger: Why, Dr. Bruce blessed me with my new hands. He does all sorts of surgeries, but he specializes in hand jobs. Prior to this, I was just a misfit, a nobody. Xavier: Well, being a nubby nobody is better than being a stubby somebody. Stranger: I'm very grateful for these hands, but they're preventing me from getting silly old Whiskers down from that tree.
2009 April 9, Xavier Renegade Angel, season 2, episode 9
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From nub + -y. Compare knobby.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian на бучки
- на бучки (na bučki)nub-like
German noppig, genoppt
- noppignub-like
- genopptnub-like
Polish grudkowaty
- grudkowatynub-like
Cite this entry
nubby. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nubby
“nubby.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nubby. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nubby,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nubby.
Source: nubby on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.