nub
/nʌb/noun, verb
nub is spelled N-U-B: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nub means “A small knob or lump” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nub is nubs.
How many letters and syllables are in nub?
| Letters | 3: N-U-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is nub?
Nub appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nub?
- US /nʌb/
- /nʊb/
As a noun (“Alternative spelling of noob”): /nuːb/, /nub/.
As a noun (“Acronym of new underway bitch or non-useful body (“an…”): /nʌb/.
Nub has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-nub.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with nub?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as nub from its last stressed vowel (/ʌb/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: bun.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of nub
- nubs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- nubbing participle, present
- nubbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nub mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteThe innermost section of a chrysalis in a silk cocoon.
- 2
A small knob or lump.
- 3
The essence or core of an issue, argument etc.
What do you think is the nub of the problem?
- 4
slangvulgarThe clitoris.
- 5
colloquialA pointing stick.
- 6
A passage of Shakespearean blank verse.
- 7
informalThe genital tubercle.
nub theory
- 8
Alternative spelling of noob.
He can’t even make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What a nub.
- 9
USderogatoryslangAcronym of new underway bitch or non-useful body (“an underqualified crewmember, generally regarded as inexperienced and unhelpful”).
Get qualified, nub!
verb
- 1
To hit the ball weakly.
- 2
To push; to nudge.
- 3
To beckon.
- 4
To extemporize a passage of Shakespearean blank verse
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nub in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nub come from?
Either directly from Middle Low German, or from knub, from a Middle Low German word (compare Low German Knubbel, Knobbel (“knot; lump”)). Compare knob.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).