nimby
/ˈnɪm.bi/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.07 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
Not in my backyard (in objection to an undesirable structure built locally).
British usage; American usage
noun
Someone who objects to the building of an undesirable structure in their neighborhood, especially in public policy debate.
Derogatory
adj
Not wanting to have to deal with unpleasant or distasteful things near them.
noun
Opposition to something deemed harmful or unpleasant being located in one's own neighborhood.
Uncountable
adj
Synonym of nimby.
Example Sentences
- "politically correct green (as in vegetation) nimbies (may object to nuclear power plants, polluting factories, etc.)"
- "socially conservative brown (as in shirts) nimbies (may object to the building of jails, prisons, housing for ex-convicts, drinking or adult entertainment establishments)"
- "fiscally conservative green (as in money) nimbies (may object to the building of anything which may decrease preexisting property values)"
- "Of course, in China everything is determined by the state. So many times, when I asked how China had managed to build this network so quickly, I was told that it was because the government had backed it. And, of course, there are fewer Nimbys in an authoritarian state."
- "Their vote against measures to help refugees has been perceived by the socially conscious margin of society as a typically nimby attitude."
- "[…] to be obvious exaggerations of the threats, but rather focused on critiquing the means employed—i.e., the various enforcement techniques that adversely affected innocent bystanders—and in a very nimby (not in my back yard) sort of way."
Etymology
Usage
- British usage
- American usage
- Derogatory
- Uncountable
- Countable
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
BANANA - acronym similar to NIMBY
Frequently Paired Words
BANANA - acronym similar to NIMBY
LULU