Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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NEBBIE, adj. Also nebby.

1. Biting, nippy, sharp in gen.; .fig., smart (Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 256; Fif., wm.Sc., Kcb. 1963). Phr.: look nebby, look sharp, hurry up.Lth. 1918 A. Dodds Lothian Land 10:
My losh, bit ye're a nebby chield [east wind]!Lnk. 1928 W. C. Fraser Yelpin' Stane 141:
Look nebby. If ye dinna stick in, I'll no let ye come back.

2. Sharp in manner, brusque, tart, (Arg.¹ 1882; Uls. 1953 Traynor; em.Sc. (b), wm.Sc., Kcb., Rxb. 1963); cheeky, impertinent (w.Lth., wm.Sc., Gall. 1963); inquisitive, "nosey" (em.Sc. (a), Edb., Gsw., sm.Sc., Uls. 1963).Gsw. 1860 J. Young Lays 133:
Before yon nebby police-court the smart o't ye may fin'.wm.Sc. 1888 Anon. Archie Macnab 82:
I wis gaun awa' to say somethin' nebby.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters xiii.:
He was nebby owre a bill I sent in the other day.Gall. 1932 A. McCormick Galloway 171:
He got nebby wi' me, an' I jist took him by the seat o' his breeks an' the scruff o' his neck.wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 50:
" ... She's got a nebby tongue and she would soon mak' a door mat of you." wm.Sc. 1983 William McIlvanney The Papers of Tony Veitch 176:
That the event had by now hardened into itself he saw in the old woman's face looking out from the nearby window of a private house with nebby curiosity, as if misfortune was lowering the tone of the neighbourhood ... m.Sc. 1996 Bank of Scotland Magazine 12:
Pretty nebby? The old Scots word for 'nosey' or 'sharp' is probably a choice of adjective with which many of her interviewees would concur ...

Hence nebbily, adv., sharply, tartly; nebbiness, n., shortness of temper, asperity (Fif., Lth., wm.Sc., Gall. 1963).Ayr. 1889 H. Johnston Glenbuckie 178:
"When are they gaun to bury your mother?" "No till she dees, I hope," says the lassie nebbily.Lth. 1930 A. P. Wilson Gundy Shop 30:
Ye cairry yer nebbiness juist a wee bit ower far ye ken.Sc. 1954 Scotsman (7 Sept.):
Ann Gudrun . . . is called upon to display a greater quality of brusqueness and nebbiness than was formerly her lot.