different between nobody vs zilch

English

Alternative forms

• nobuddy
• nobudy

Etymology

no +? body

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n??.b?.di/, /?n??.b?.di/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?no?.b?.di/, /?no?.b?.di/

Pronoun

nobody

1. Not any person; the logical negation of somebody.

Usage notes

• Nobody has a lower degree of formality than no one, but is still standard and is unremarkable in more formal contexts.
• See more at no one

Synonyms

• no one

Antonyms

• anybody, anyone
• everybody, everyone
• somebody, someone

Derived terms

• nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people
• nobody's fool

Related terms

Translations

Noun

nobody (plural nobodies)

1. Someone who is not important or well-known.

Related terms

• nonentity

Translations

English

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested as Zilch, a placeholder surname (compare John Doe) in the American humor magazine Ballyhoo in 1931. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: z?lch, IPA^(key): /z?lt?/
• Rhymes: -?lt?

Noun

zilch (countable and uncountable, plural zilches)

1. (countable, informal, archaic) A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonentity

   • 1931 July, Ballyhoo, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 1:

     President Henry P. Zilch. Chairman of the Board Charles D. Zilch. Treasurer Otto Zilch.

   • 1932 February, Ballyhoo, Vol. II, No. 1:

     Bernarr MacZilch [for Bernarr Macfadden] and His Dynamic-Hooey System... The WEAKLING Who Became 'The World's Most Perfect Ass!'

   • 1940, Lester V. Berrey & al., The American Thesaurus of Slang, §184:

     Dinglegoofer, Mr. Zilch, indefinite nicknames.

2. (uncountable, informal) Nothing, zero.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nothing

Translations

Adjective

zilch (not comparable)

1. (informal, chiefly US) No, zero, non-existent.
   • 1966, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

     Zilch, adj. Nothing, zero...

   • 1977 February 3, The Telegraph, p. 14:

     ...gorgeous faces but zilch talent...

Verb

zilch (third-person singular simple present zilches, present participle zilching, simple past and past participle zilched)

1. (informal, US sports) To cause to score nothing, to thoroughly defeat.
   • 1969, University of South Dakota, Current Slang:

     We zilched them on that rubber.

   • 1990 April 2, USA Today, p. 20:

     My favorite film of 1989 got zilched... That would be Field of Dreams.

Synonyms

• shutout

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “zilch”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• “zilch, n. (and adj.).”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1986
• “zilch, v.”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1993