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nothing

/ˈnʌθɪŋ/
pronounnounadjectiveinterjection

NOTHING meaning: something trivial or insignificant; the seven-letter word scores 11 points in Scrabble.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Pronoun 2 meanings

  1. Not any thing; no thing.

    “Don't just say nothing. Tell me what's going on.”

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

Noun 3 meanings

  1. Something trifling, or of no consequence or importance.

    “- What happened to your face? - It's nothing.”

  2. A trivial remark especially in the term sweet nothings.

  3. A nobody (insignificant person).

Adjective 2 meanings

  1. Completely unimportant.

    “Dallas scored on what had seemed until then like a nothing play.”

  2. Lacking effort or commitment.

    “The cricketer played a nothing shot.”

Interjection 1 meaning

  1. Never mind; it's not important; forget what I said.

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

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”).

Similar and opposite words

Similar
naughtjacknadazipzippozilchsquatnix
Opposite
anythingeverythingsomething

NOTHING is an everyday English word with a distinctive word-game profile: its seven tiles total 11 Scrabble points, but those letters make no anagrams. The word ends in -ing, and its only one-letter neighbours are NOSHING and NITHING. Its ordinary sense ranges from something trivial to a person treated as insignificant.

NOTHING at a glance

  • Meaning: something trivial, an unimportant matter, or an insignificant person.
  • Scrabble face value: 11 points from the letters N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
  • Anagrams: none, despite the repeated N and seven-letter rack.
  • One-letter neighbours: NOSHING and NITHING; each differs by one letter.

NOTHING meaning and usage

NOTHING can mean something of no consequence, as in “That’s nothing.” It also names a trivial remark; “sweet nothings” uses the word in that sense. A further meaning is a nobody: a person regarded as unimportant. The word can refer to either a matter or a person.

That range matters when you’re solving a clue. NOTHING is not only an abstract opposite of something; a clue about a throwaway remark or an insignificant person can point to the same seven letters.

How does NOTHING score 11 Scrabble points?

The tile values add up to 11: N is worth 1, O is 1, T is 1, H is 4, I is 1, the second N is 1, and G is 2. The H supplies the largest share of the word’s face value.

That 11-point total is the rack value before any board premiums. NOTHING is included in ENABLE, NWL2023, and Collins, but word lists can differ between games, so check the list your game uses.

What words are closest to NOTHING?

NOSHING and NITHING are the two one-letter neighbours: each keeps six letters in place and changes one. The repeated N may make a rack rearrangement tempting, but NOTHING has zero anagrams, so swapping its letters will not produce another word.

The ending -ing also links NOTHING to 12 rhymes, including BEING, GOING, THING, and DOING. For a clue about NOTHING meaning, pay attention to whether it points to a trivial matter, a remark, or a person; those senses are more useful than the rhyme.

Rhymes with nothing

All rhymes

One letter away

Change one letter, keep the rest
  • NOSHING11
  • NITHING11

Questions people ask

Is NOTHING valid in Scrabble?
Yes, NOTHING is included in ENABLE, NWL2023, and Collins. Its seven tile values total 11 points before board premiums. Check the word list used by your particular game, since accepted words can vary between dictionaries.
How many anagrams does NOTHING have?
NOTHING has no anagrams in the listed word-game lexicons. Although its letters include a repeated N, no rearrangement of all seven letters forms another word in this set.
What words rhyme with NOTHING?
NOTHING has 12 listed rhymes, including BEING, GOING, THING, and DOING. These words share its -ing ending, though the list includes words of different lengths, such as THING and EVERYTHING.

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