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
-
The company’s share of its agreement with California — $55 million — is barely a speck on its balance sheet; revenue for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, topped $102 billion in its most recent quarterly earnings report.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Volcanic specks mushroom up from topaz seas, like a real estate brochure for The Man With The Golden Gun.—
Tristan Rutherford,
Robb Report,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Taken together, the list reads like a snapshot of a category that’s evolving quickly while still holding onto its roots.—
Emily Price,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
According to Natacha Bonjout, French pharmacist and founder of Bonjout Beauty, the ingredient is based on plant extract Anemarrhena asphodeloides root, which is rich in sarsasapogenin to stimulate fat cells.—
Audrey Noble,
Vogue,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But right now, nearly every fleck of AI folly that’s risen to the top has been utter dreck.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The remaining scenes draw on familiar teenage horror tropes, with flecks of fresh insight.—
Natalia Winkelman,
IndieWire,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Two months later, her heart began to beat irregularly.—
Stephanie Armour,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Vidal was struck five times and bullets hit his heart, lung, liver and pancreas.—
Sierra van der Brug,
Oc Register,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The four actors reunited onstage to close out the Emmys with a hilariously charming bit inspired by their cult-favorite comedy series that, appropriately, gave O'Hara her flowers.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Jan. 2026
-
Paired with cornbread that is made with a little bit of a mess, your main dish will come off just beautifully.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Mobile units have core tasks of license plate collection and vehicle pattern tracking.—
Asra Q. Nomani , Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi,
FOXNews.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The birth of Endeavor startled Hollywood, but Endeavor’s subsequent takeover of powerhouse William Morris shook the town to its core.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
These include microvalves that sort particles by size inside extremely narrow channels.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
-
However, a dark matter particle that interacts through the weak interaction (or, perhaps more completely, the electroweak interaction) isn’t the only game in town.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
An on-board grain feeder delivers the corn kernels into a delivery truck which drives it to a packaging center.—
Sabbir Rangwala,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Though the eco mode struggled to pick up a popcorn kernel, the turbo mode handled it easily.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nubbin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nubbin. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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