1
as in speck
a very small piece
had only a nubbin of crayon left
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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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
-
Most astronomers now agree that each of these minuscule crimson specks—which bear a striking resemblance to enormous, faraway stars—actually has a burgeoning black hole at its center.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
27 May 2026
-
There are blue spots, specks, scratches, flares, and bits of crud in almost ALL of the Apollo photos.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
The nonalcoholic Racine is designed entirely around roots—ginger, vetiver, turmeric, liquorice—while the Feuille cocktail focuses solely on leaves, blending mint, blue spirulina, blackcurrant bud, aloe vera, and patchouli.—
Lane Nieset,
Condé Nast Traveler,
4 June 2026
-
Although some of the grass blades grow back, the turf rejuvenates itself after every mowing thanks to tillers or new leaves that arise from root crowns.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
From the train windows, expect to spot the aquamarine waves of Ligurian Sea crashing against the stony coast, candy-colored houses huddled together on the hillsides, tiny wooden boats gliding through village harbors, and flecks of golden-sand beaches.—
Jessica Puckett,
Condé Nast Traveler,
5 June 2026
-
The light had a wintry grain, with flecks of color suspended in it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
For families The hotel has a kids club with supervised activities so that parents can dine, have spa treatments or shop to their hearts’ content.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
Our hearts go out to Joe's family, friends and the generations of neighbors who loved him.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
Maybe get him in motion a little bit more.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
30 May 2026
-
There was always a little bit of John in each one of his performances.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
30 May 2026
Noun
-
While the run business resonated with shoppers, the company’s campaign for its core yoga product didn’t live up to expectations.—
Evan Clark,
Footwear News,
4 June 2026
-
Other major areas in the district include Galt, Elk Grove and several capital region neighborhoods including Campus Commons, Oak Park, south Sacramento and the city’s downtown core.—
Mathew Miranda
June 4,
Sacbee.com,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
The team then used ultrasonication, a technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to agitate and process materials, and broke the bulk liquid metal into fine particles.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
3 June 2026
-
So by necessity, the encoding must be approximate, and therefore some aspects of what’s going on in the space-time can’t be perfectly recovered by measuring a subset of the quantum particles in the usual way.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
Ben Tzur understands the spiritual kernel of this process, having studied under Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar in the ancient dhrupad tradition, where rhythmic Vedic chants achieve a similar effect.—
Arman Khan,
Pitchfork,
1 June 2026
-
Frontier models have already validated hundreds of high-severity zero-days in production open-source code, including a Linux kernel bug that had been sitting unnoticed since 2003.—
Yonesy Nunez,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nubbin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nubbin. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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