nappy

C2+ Topic:Clothing & Appearance

US /ˈnæpi/ UK /ˈnæpi/ See IPA manual

noun adj

Meanings

1

noun
a baby's diaper; or (of hair) tightly curled and frizzy

She changed the baby's nappy before putting him down for his nap.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a baby's diaper; or (of... diaperfrizzykinkycurly fuzzy knotty

Opposites

straight smooth sleek

Word family

Related forms napnappiness

Etymology

From nap ('the raised pile or fuzzy surface of cloth', from Middle Dutch noppe, 'down, tuft') plus -y; the British 'diaper' sense is a diminutive of napkin.

noppe Middle Dutch

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance Word Formation & Derivatives

# nappy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** ˈnæpi
**IPA (UK):** ˈnæpi

## Meanings
1. a baby's diaper; or (of hair) tightly curled and frizzy

## Examples
- She changed the baby's nappy before putting him down for his nap.

## Synonyms
- diaper
- frizzy
- kinky
- curly
- fuzzy
- knotty

## Antonyms
- straight
- smooth
- sleek

## Related Forms
- nap
- nappiness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: noppe

## Etymology
From nap ('the raised pile or fuzzy surface of cloth', from Middle Dutch noppe, 'down, tuft') plus -y; the British 'diaper' sense is a diminutive of napkin.

## AI Etymology
Nappy comes from nap ('the raised pile or fuzzy surface of cloth', from Middle Dutch noppe, 'down, tuft') plus -y; the British 'diaper' sense is a diminutive of napkin. The suffix is part of the word's derivational shape, marking the final grammatical or semantic role while the base supplies the central meaning. As a noun and adjective, it denotes "a baby's diaper; or (of hair) tightly curled and frizzy", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Middle Dutch noppe. Related words include nap, nappiness.

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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nappy

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