nibsn.
/nɪbz/, U.S. /nɪbz/ slang.
Originally: the person in question, the person being (implicitly) alluded to. Now chiefly: the person in authority, as an employer, superior, etc. (frequently used ironically or with the implication that the person referred to has an excessive sense of his or her own importance). Cf. nabs n.Usually with possessive adjective as a mock title, as his nibs, her nibs, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important > one who is self important
bug1536
his nibs1821
panjandrum1825
prima ballerina1923
I AM1926
cheese1965
the mind > emotion > pride > self-importance > [noun] > person
bug1536
bladder1579
God almighty1632
cockalorumc1796
his nibs1821
prima donna1834
fly on the (coach-)wheel1840
high muck-a-muck1856
nobs1877
high muckety-muck1882
muckamuck1883
Pooh Bah1886
prima ballerina1923
I AM1926
muckety-muck1927
Pooter1957
cheese1965
1821 Life D. Haggart 48 I said, ‘I will punsh outsides with your nibs, but not with that gloach.’
1821 in Life D. Haggart Gloss. 172 Nibs, yourself.
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 57 She flokessed his nibs, and hooked it off to his crib.
c1865 B. A. Baker Glance at N.Y. i. v. 15 I say, Mike, do you know his knibbs?
1882 G. W. Peck Peck's Sunshine 131 A respectable merchant was going to the opera with a friend from the country, when a couple of sirens met them and one said to the other, ‘Look at his nibs.’
1895 Punch 18 May 230/1 'Ard years these 'ere Nineties, my nibs, yus, and bizness 'as bin fur from prime.
1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy xxi. 333 Just to show his royal nibs that he's been thoughtless.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands ii. 18 They're settin' her nibs t'-day.
1919 G. S. Gordon Let. 30 June (1943) 115 We get on to the Caesar, and find their nibs strolling the quarterdeck after dinner.
1974 O. Manning Rain Forest ii. i. 141 Her nibs don't like me calling him ‘old bugger’. There's a snobby bitch, if you like!
2001 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 19 June I can't help smiling at the thought of his nibs and his very personal assistant caught in the act on the office floor.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1821