1
as in speck
a very small piece
had only a nubbin of crayon left
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in root
the central part or aspect of something under consideration
this nubbin of the intelligence report is the prediction that the country's government will soon fall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nubbin
Secchi’s ragù is the opposite of bouncy meat nubbins bobbing in tomato sauce.
—
Chris Morocco, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 Apr. 2025
Double-tapping the nubbin now pops up a menu with volume and microphone controls and voice typing.
—PCMAG, 17 Jan. 2025
Ground nubbins of paprika, cumin, sage and black pepper that have moldered into flavorless, colored molecules.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 23 Dec. 2024
Heffernan, a gravely captivating newcomer, wraps each expression and gesture around a hard little nubbin of distrust.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Being a bit of a handy man in a fight himself, Father Ryan taught Frankie how to roll with a punch, how to upset a right swing with a left stab to his shoulder, and how to swing in with a right cross to the nubbin of the chin while his man was off keel.
—Westbrook Pegler, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2024
That changed at 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5 when 192 giant lasers at the laboratory’s National Ignition Facility blasted a small cylinder about the size of a pencil eraser that contained a frozen nubbin of hydrogen encased in diamond.
—Kenneth Chang, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Dec. 2022
Chris Morocco, Bon Appetit Magazine, 16 Apr. 2025
Double-tapping the nubbin now pops up a menu with volume and microphone controls and voice typing.
—PCMAG, 17 Jan. 2025
Ground nubbins of paprika, cumin, sage and black pepper that have moldered into flavorless, colored molecules.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 23 Dec. 2024
Heffernan, a gravely captivating newcomer, wraps each expression and gesture around a hard little nubbin of distrust.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Being a bit of a handy man in a fight himself, Father Ryan taught Frankie how to roll with a punch, how to upset a right swing with a left stab to his shoulder, and how to swing in with a right cross to the nubbin of the chin while his man was off keel.
—Westbrook Pegler, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2024
That changed at 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5 when 192 giant lasers at the laboratory’s National Ignition Facility blasted a small cylinder about the size of a pencil eraser that contained a frozen nubbin of hydrogen encased in diamond.
—Kenneth Chang, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nubbin
Noun
-
Their long, silvery-blue spiral arms are peppered with bright knots and specks, the telltale signposts of active, messy astrophysics in progress.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Pure black or white floors show every speck of dust.—
Marisa Suzanne Martin,
The Spruce,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
No one could trace the secret roots of Skinny Pedro’s devotion to the world of machines.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Short-term fixes alone are unlikely to address the root causes of affordability and, if misguided, could even prove counterproductive.—
Gene Ludwig,
Fortune,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
López reportedly found flecks of gold while digging wild onions, sparking an early gold rush.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
26 Dec. 2025
-
Shiny and dark evergreen foliage is held aloft on strong, arching stems mottled with purple flecks.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
21 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Kipling City Pack Backpack Pocket space is at the very heart of this backpack’s design, which has over five different compartments on the interior and exterior.—
Michelle Baricevic,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Jan. 2026
-
What the museum dream team did not see was the pain in our hearts about this jail.—
Dorothy Jenkins Fields,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The sensor supports 13-bit output, allowing richer color representation and smoother tonal transitions.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Jan. 2026
-
And probably died a little bit more when the Tyler Loop field goal that would have sent him home — maybe for good — was in the air before drifting wide right.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Visa and MasterCard have responded to growing scrutiny with minor, cosmetic adjustments, but the core problem remains unchanged.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Instead, creators will take on the role of consultants, as brands develop more substantial partnerships with the talent that now make up such a core part of their marketing strategies.—
Madeleine Schulz,
Vogue,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Yui's video kicked off with a dramatic display of zodiacal light, which formed as sunlight reflected off a cloud of interplanetary dust particles to form a column of light above the colorful arc of our Blue Marble.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
10 Jan. 2026
-
The antenna that sends out the RF signal is made from zinc, and it is embedded into a cellulose particle, as per the release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Waymon Cox, an assistant park superintendent, compared the diamond to a corn kernel.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
9 Jan. 2026
-
It’s served alongside a slab of cold sweet potato and garnished with hefty kernels of the dent corn called choclo.—
Sean Timberlake,
Sacbee.com,
26 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nubbin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nubbin. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share