nekkid
Naked — said the Southern way, often with a grin.
Also called nekid, naked.
Updated September 24, 2026
nekkid pronunciation
/NEK-id/
Meaning
Same clothes-off meaning as naked, written to match how a lot of rural Southern folks say it. Shows up in porch stories, kid-running-out-the-bath tales, and jokes. Comedian Lewis Grizzard drew a comic line: naked is no clothes; nekkid is no clothes and you're up to something. That bit stuck in Southern talk even though the dictionary sense is just unclothed.
How folks use it
- “That boy ran through the yard nekkid as a jaybird after his bath.”
- “Don't you dare go swimming nekkid where the neighbors can see.”
Origin and etymology
Pronunciation spelling of naked. DARE records forms like nekkid, nekid, and necked chiefly across the South and South Midland. The short first vowel (NEK instead of NAYK) is old regional speech, not a separate invented word.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a real difference between naked and nekkid?
Meaning-wise, no — both mean without clothes. The Grizzard joke adds "and up to something," which is comedy more than a second definition.