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Nifty

//ˈnɪfti// adj, noun, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Good, smart; useful or beneficial, often in an impressively clever way. colloquial, dated

    "a nifty trick for reducing your household energy bill"

  2. 2
    Stylish. colloquial, dated

    "nifty gear"

Adjective
  1. 1
    excellent wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    A possibly risqué comic story or anecdote. colloquial, dated

    "New subscribers are the life of our party (any advertiser will tell you that) just as the regular reader of CLIPPINGS becomes the life of any party (and why not with such a supply of “nifties” and bon mots)."

  2. 2
    A trick. colloquial, dated

    "[…] Winfield Sheehan had pulled a nifty on the wise guys of Hollywood and the film colony in Southern California when he disappeared for a week with a print of Sunrise, the Murnau picture recently completed."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From *nift + -y. First element is of unknown origin. Possibly theatrical slang, as a shortened, altered form of Magnificat. Alternatively, perhaps a special use of US regional niffed (“put off, peeved”).

Etymology 2

From *nift + -y. First element is of unknown origin. Possibly theatrical slang, as a shortened, altered form of Magnificat. Alternatively, perhaps a special use of US regional niffed (“put off, peeved”).

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