nothing

- definition

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90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing.These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are morefrequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

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pronoun

/ˈnʌθɪŋ/

1
not anything
There was nothing in the room except for a mattress.
She waited and watched, but nothing happened.
nothing at all:
I knew nothing at all about taking care of babies.
nothing else:
The smoke alarms were working, but it seemed nothing else was.
nothing new/strange/wrong etc.:
I saw nothing strange in the situation.
There’s nothing wrong with tourism – it’s good for business.
nothing to do/eat/drink etc.:
The kids complain that there’s nothing to do there.
Some of them had had nothing to eat for three days.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
2
not anything that is important or worth thinking about
You’re just making a big fuss about nothing.
Do I mean nothing to you?
A minor headache is nothing to get too worried about.
nothing much:
“What did you do while I was gone?” “Nothing much.”
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
3
no money
The car is worth nothing now.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
4
informal used in a score to mean “zero”
Our team beat the Eagles, four – nothing.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing

phrases

be nothing if not
used for emphasizing that someone or something has a lot of a particular quality
He is nothing if not enthusiastic.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
be nothing like
to not be similar to someone or something in any way
Her two daughters are nothing like each other.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
for nothing
1. 1
  without any payment
  Some of the men volunteered to work for nothing.
  I’m a club member, so I can get tickets for nothing.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
2. 2
  without a reason or purpose
  Why did you call me down here for nothing?
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
if nothing else
used for mentioning what you think may be the only good aspect of something or the only good reason for doing something
Andrea’s work has always been very neat, if nothing else.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
it’s nothing/think nothing of it
spoken
used as a polite reply when someone has thanked you for doing something for them
“It’s very kind of you to bring me home.” “Think nothing of it.”
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
nothing but
only
They’ve shown us nothing but kindness.
He has nothing but praise for the managers at his company.
You’re nothing but a thief.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
nothing doing
informal
used for refusing a request or saying that something is not possible
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
nothing of the kind/sort
used for emphasizing that you disagree with someone’s statement, or that you refuse to let someone do something
“I’ll just stay here then.” “You’ll do nothing of the kind.”
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
there’s nothing better, worse, more exciting etc. than
used for emphasizing how good/bad/exciting etc. something is
There’s nothing more exciting than seeing your name in print.
There’s nothing worse than not being able to sleep at night.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
there’s nothing to something
used for saying that something is not true
There’s nothing to the rumors about an affair.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing
there’s nothing to it
spoken
used for saying that something is very easy to do
Here, just press this button. There’s nothing to it.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of nothing

showmance

a romantic relationship between two members of the cast of a play, film or television series

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a thick, wet, unpleasant substance that covers something

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able to be read and understood by people

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nothing

What are red words?

Thesaurus

Related dictionary definitions

phrases

be nothing if not

be nothing like

for nothing

if nothing else

it’s nothing/think nothing of it

nothing but

nothing doing

nothing of the kind/sort

there’s nothing better, worse, more exciting etc. than

there’s nothing to something

there’s nothing to it

showmance

Word of the Day

slime

human-readable