nebbish
/ˈnɛ.bɪʃ/
"nebbish" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nebbish” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who is fearful, indecisive and timid, especially in making decisions and plans, in discussions, debates, arguments, and confrontations, and in taking responsibility.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nebbish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɛ.bɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nebbish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nebbish is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnɛ.bɪʃ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "One who is fearful, indecisive and timid, especially in making decisions and plans, in discussions, debates, arguments, and confrontations, and in taking responsibility.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for nebbish in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From American Yiddish נעביש (nebish), from נעבעך (nebekh, “poor, unfortunate”). The correct English form is nebbish, spelled N-E-B-B-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1One who is fearful, indecisive and timid, especially in making decisions and plans, in discussions, debates, arguments, and confrontations, and in taking responsibility.
Etymology
From American Yiddish נעביש (nebish), from נעבעך (nebekh, “poor, unfortunate”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “nebbish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-E-B-B-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnɛ.bɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.