Definition of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)
(noun) Acronym for “Not In My Back Yard”, which is the tendency for people to protest issues, particularly environmental, that affect them directly.
Example of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)
- When they were told that coal seam gas (CSG) would be mined in their area, the people said “NIMBY, Not in my Back Yard”.
NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) Pronunciation
Syllabification: NIM·BY not in my back yard
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /nIm-bee (nAHt In mIE bAk yAHRd)/
- British English – /nIm-bee (nOt In mIE bAk yAHd)/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈnɪmbi (nɑt ɪn maɪ bæk jɑrd)/
- British English – /(nɒt ɪn maɪ bæk jɑːd)/
Usage Note
- Variant spelling: nimby
Additional Information
- YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) refers to increasing development, particularly housing in urban areas or public services such as transportation.
- Word origin of “nimby” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Takahashi, Lois. 1998. Homelessness, AIDS, and Stigmatization: The NIMBY Syndrome in the United States at the End of the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved May 29, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/nimby-not-in-my-back-yard/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/nimby-not-in-my-back-yard/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/nimby-not-in-my-back-yard/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 May. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/nimby-not-in-my-back-yard/>.