Nouns That Start With N

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Often, they’re accompanied by articles, like "a," "an," and "the." Take a look at the subject of the next sentence you read. It’s likely to be a noun. For example, "My nemesis lives in my neighborhood."

Notice the objects of sentences, too. They’re frequently nouns as well. That means they'll usually come after the verb in the sentence. For example, "He gave the napkin to me.” Nouns also function as names, including people, cities, and more.

N-nouns abound. Most of us live in a neighborhood of some sort and, certainly, most of us love a good novel. Ready to expand the horizon of your vocabulary? From nachos to nymphs, here are 50 nouns that start with N.

1. Nacho - a small, often triangular piece of a tostada, topped with cheese
2. Nanometer - one billionth of a meter
3. Napkin - a small piece of cloth or paper used while eating to wipe fingers and lips
4. Narcissism - excessive admiration of yourself
5. Narration - reading or telling a story
6. Narrowness - a physical restriction
7. Nastiness - a desire to harm others or see others suffer
8. Nationality - the state of being part of a nation, whether by birth or naturalization
9. Nature - the natural Earth and the things on it
10. Navigator - a person who directs and plots the course of a vehicle or vessel
11. Neatness - the state of being neat
12. Necessity - something that is absolutely needed
13. Neediness - the characteristic of being needy, or needing a lot of attention
14. Negativity - the characteristic of being pessimistic
15. Neglect - the act of disregarding something
16. Negotiator - one who negotiates or moderates
17. Neighborhood - a group of houses or buildings that are grouped together in an area
18. Nemesis - an enemy who can’t be beaten
19. Neon - a gas with ten electrons and ten protons
20. Newcomer - one who recently arrived
21. Niceness - pleasantness, especially of behavior or personality
22. Niche - a specialized part of a market for products or services
23. Nickname - a substitute name given to a person, place, or thing
24. Niece - the daughter of a brother or sister
25. Nightmare - a bad dream, or an experience that’s like a bad dream
26. Nimbus - a bright cloud, surrounding mythological gods or goddesses
27. Nipper - a tool, such as pliers, used for squeezing
28. Nirvana - a state of being in peace or complete happiness
29. Nitrogen - a colorless, tasteless, odorless gaseous chemical
30. Nitwit - a silly person
31. Nobility - a group of people distinguished by high birth, particularly monarchs and their family
32. Node - a central area, often a swollen area
33. Noisiness - the quality of being loud
34. Nomad - a person without a designated home
35. Nonsense - behavior that is silly and foolish
36. Noodle - a flat, wide strip of pasta
37. Normal - the usual, or the average
38. Norwegian - a native or inhabitant of Norway
39. Notion - an idea, belief, or vague knowledge of something
40. Novel - a fictional book of substantial length
41. Nudge - a gentle push to get attention or give a signal
42. Nugget - a small chunk of something
43. Nuisance - someone or something that is causing trouble
44. Numbness - absent or reduced sensitivity to stimulation
45. Numeracy - the quality of being good at math or able to understand and use numbers
46. Nursery - a place where parents may temporarily leave children with trained attendants
47. Nurturer - someone who provides food or care
48. Nuttiness - the quality of having a nutty flavor or texture
49. Nylon - cloth or yarn made from synthetic materials
50. Nymph - a mythical spirit or goddess, or a beautiful young woman

Since they function in so many different capacities, it won’t surprise you to learn there are over 10 different types of nouns. If a noun is referring to a person or place, it's likely a proper noun (e.g. Arthur, Denver, Montana, Ireland, and the Eiffel Tower). An example of that would be, “The Eiffel Tower sparkles like a diamond at night.”

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun. These nouns refer to general, unspecified entities. In the example above, Eiffel Tower is a proper noun. But, if that line simply read, "That monument sparkles like a diamond," you'd know the subject was a common noun. Common nouns are neither capitalized nor specific.

You've also got compound nouns (e.g., makeup and hair dryer), countable nouns, possessive nouns, and pronouns. In fact, it's common to see both nouns and pronouns in a single sentence: "Jamie handed the talisman to her."

Will you find a way to insert “numeracy” into your next shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue? Or how about “nimbus” into your travel plans? It’s a fun letter, right?

Let’s take a look at 10 N-nouns in full-blown action. Click on the link in each sentence to see more example sentences containing that N-noun:

1. She looked forward to his evening narration of Outlander.
2. Captain Hook was a born navigator.
3. A good book is a necessity for an easy flight.
4. We love our new neighborhood in Tulsa.
5. She awoke from the nightmare with a fright.
6. He painted her as a nimbus, high over the cliffs of Positano.
7. She lived her life as a nomad, traveling from town to town.
8. Her first novel was critically acclaimed.
9. When it was time to deliver her speech, he gave her a slight nudge under the table.
10. My cousin is a sea nymph, granddaughter of Poseidon.

Nouns are just the beginning! Keep expanding your vocabulary of words that begin with this N using the tool for finding words that start with N on WordFinder by YourDictionary, where you can enter criteria to create your own word list. The on-screen search features allow you to search for and create a list of terms that begin with or contain a certain combination of letters. You can even designate what the last letter should be. What a fun way to build your vocabulary!

If there’s any part of speech that’s highly nuanced, it’s the noun. It stands at the front of the sentence as a subject or the back of the sentence as an object. It can be capitalized, generalized, and more. Words that start with N are certainly common, but how about a good, strong vowel? Take a look at Nouns that Start with E, for E is a very popular fellow.