nubile

adjective

nu·​bile ˈnü-ˌbī(-ə)l 

ˈnyü-,

-bəl 

1

: of marriageable condition or age

nubile young women

2

: sexually attractive

—used of a young woman

a nubile starlet

nubility

nü-ˈbi-lə-tē 

nyü-

noun

Examples of nubile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And even those films starring endlessly reincarnating supernatural psycho slashers chasing nubile coeds aren’t so simple to pigeonhole politically. —David Colman, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Oct. 2024

Wow Platinum, or virtuous wives, like his new and nubile lover, Julia, Mayor Cicero’s daughter. —Kate Wagner, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2024

Britney Spears will never not exist in the public imagination as a nubile teen in a schoolgirl kilt. —Lauren Groff, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2024

Now every nubile deb has her eye on him, and our poor heroine doesn’t seem to stand a chance. —Judy Berman, TIME, 16 May 2024

Allen’s dramatic assertions about the lusts of movie men for a nubile young woman are matched by his contemptuous depiction of her as a ditz out of her depth, especially as compared to the soulful rebel Gatsby, who throws her over for a younger girl (Gomez). —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024

In an improbable turn of events, the son of Emmeline and Richard ends up getting stranded on the exact same island along with another nubile young castaway. —Drew MacKie, Peoplemag, 30 Sep. 2022

Pearl is a mystery at first — seen from a distance in a second-story window, then observing the nubile visitors from afar. —John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2022

At 20, women play four-fifths of leads: Hollywood is very interested in them at their nubile prime. —Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2022

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & Latin; French nubile, borrowed from Latin nūbilis "of an age suitable for marriage," from nūb-, stem of nūbere "(of a woman) to get married (to), contract a marriage" + -ilis -ile entry 1; nūbere perhaps going back to Indo-European *sneu̯b^h-, whence also, from a causative derivative *snou̯b^h-ei̯e-, Russian Church Slavic snoublʼju, snoubiti "to propose as a spouse, arrange a sexual partner (for)," Slovene snúbiti "to propose (a woman) as a spouse," Czech snoubit se "to get married"

Note: The linking of nūbere with this group of Slavic verbs has been objected to, on the grounds that their orientation is toward the suitor rather than the bride, and that the etymon is attested in only two Indo-European subfamilies. Ernout and Meillet (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine) favor a connection with Latin obnūbere "to veil, cover (usually the head)," proposing that the original meaning of nūbere was approximately "to take the veil." This would further connect nūbere to nūbēs "cloud" (see nuance), though a difficulty here is that the best comparable item outside Latin is Welsh nudd "mist, haze," which would suggest a proto-form *(s)neu̯d^h/ *(s)nou̯d^h-, with aspirate d. If this were the case, the past participle of nūbere would be *nussus rather than the attested nuptus (whence nupta "married woman," from which nuptiae "marriage"; nuptial entry 1). The forms nuptus, etc., would have to be relatively late creations based on the present stem (though nuptiae is already known from the early Latin poet Ennius). See M. de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages (Brill, 2011). Compare also connubial.

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

nubile

adjective

nu·​bile ˈn(y)ü-bəl  -ˌbīl 

: sexually mature

especially : of marriageable condition or age

—used of young women

nubility

n(y)ü-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

plural nubilities