Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

nothing

/ˈnʌθɪŋ/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.55 in modern English

Syllables
noth-ing
IPA
/ˈnʌθɪŋ/
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

pron

Not any thing; no thing.

pron

An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.

noun

Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A nobody (insignificant person).

Countable; Uncountable

adv

Not at all; in no way.

Archaic

adj

Completely unimportant.

adj

Lacking effort or commitment.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: nothyng, nāþing

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈnʌθɪŋ/
  • British English: /ˈnʌθɪŋ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

nuffin (alternative, nonstandard) nuffin' (alternative, nonstandard) nuffink (alternative, nonstandard) nuttin (alternative, nonstandard) nuttin' (alternative, nonstandard) nuthin (alternative, nonstandard) nuthin' (alternative, nonstandard) nuthing (alternative, nonstandard) nothin' (alternative, nonstandard) nothink (alternative, nonstandard) nothings (plural)

Derived Forms

benothing nothingarian nothingburger nothingish nothingism nothingist nothingize nothingly nothingness nothingology nothingth nothingy

Phrases

hill of beans row of pins age ain't nothing but a number ain't nothing but a thang all-or-nothing and nothing of value was lost apropos of nothing as if nothing had happened

Frequently Paired Words

absent empty gone hill of beans row of pins nonentity nonexistent vacant

Synonyms

not a thing naught jack nada zip zippo zilch squat nix bugger all jack shit sod all

Antonyms

anything everything something

Questions

How do you pronounce nothing?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈnʌθɪŋ/.
What does nothing mean?
Not any thing; no thing.
Where does nothing come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce nothing

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “nothing”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈnʌθɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “nothing”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “nothing” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.