nobby

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 23, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>nobby</strong> &#149; \NAH-bee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Nobby</em> is a synonym of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chic#h2">chic</a> and typically describes people and things that are cleverly stylish. The word is sometimes disapproving in modern use.</p> <p>// The restaurant was a bit too <em>nobby</em> for my tastes, but I did enjoy the food.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nobby">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“If documentaries about famously <em>nobby</em> creatives are your <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shtick">schtick</a>, you should also bookmark Todd Haynes’s much-lauded <em>The Velvet Underground</em>, which reconsiders the figure of Lou Reed and premiered in the Grand Théâtre Lumière to rapturous applause.” — Hayley Maitland, <em>British Vogue</em>, 16 July 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Nobby</em> comes from the noun <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nob#h2"><em>nob</em></a>, which is used in British English to mean “one in a superior position in life.” (This <em>nob</em> may have begun as a slang word for “head,” but a possible connection to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noble"><em>noble</em></a> has been suggested as well.) Appearing in English in the 18th century, <em>nobby</em> was first used to describe people in society’s upper echelons. In a way similar to that of a more recent coinage, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/posh"><em>posh</em></a>, it has extended in usage to describe the places frequented by such people, as well as their genteel customs. Charles Dickens, for example, wrote in his 1853 novel <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bleak-Ho