ned kelly
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.64 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A figure or person akin to the iconic Australian bushranger Ned Kelly, typically denoting someone with audacious recklessness or morally questionable business dealings, or who opposes or defies authority.
Australian usage; Slang
Example Sentences
- "It [sc. smoking] will have the joy of the excitement, and the uncertainty of bushranging with a suggestion of Ned Kelly about it — and every boy is at heart a Ned Kelly."
- "Mr. Bizzell said the council offered him £740 for 74 perches of land... 'They are just Ned Kellys,’ he said. 'They certainly won't put it back on the market without making a handsome profit.'"
- "Such "preparedness" that immunity from danger can best be found, "One sword keeps another in the scabbard," and even a Ned Kelly would fight shy of the man who had a loaded rifle always at hand and who knew how to use it."
- "He had all the ferocity of a Ned Kelly, am bullets and blood were to him nectar and ambrosia."
- "John Clare's pilot [sc. jockey] is not a Ned Kelly. When interfered with in the 14.2 at Rosebery he took no risks of coming down, and almost pulled the John O'Lorne gelding up until in a clear position."
Etymology
Usage
Inflected Forms
Phrases
before one can say Ned Kelly
game as Ned Kelly
gamer than Ned Kelly
in more strife than Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly beard