# Maggie

/ˈmæˌɡi/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/maggie
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. name

noun · CEFR A1 · Informal

a short, friendly name for Margaret.

For teachers: a common hypocoristic or diminutive form of the female given name Margaret.

- My aunt's name is Margaret, but everyone in the family calls her Maggie.
- The protagonist, Maggie, undergoes a significant character arc throughout the novel as she navigates the complexities of her professional life.

### 2. bird

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal · British English · Dialect

a common nickname for a magpie, a bird known for its black and white feathers.

For teachers: an informal or dialectal term for a magpie, particularly the European magpie (Pica pica) or the Australian magpie.

- Look at that maggie sitting on the fence with its long tail.
- The local farmers often complained about the maggies stealing grain from the storage bins during the winter months.

### 3. Margaret Thatcher

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal · British English

a nickname for Margaret Thatcher, who was the Prime Minister of the UK.

For teachers: a common informal reference to Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, often used in political discourse or protest songs.

- Many songs from the 1980s were written about Maggie and her government.
- The documentary explores the polarizing legacy of Maggie, focusing on the industrial strikes that defined her tenure in the 1980s.

## Examples

- My friend Maggie is coming over for dinner tonight.
- After years of being called Margaret at work, she preferred her friends to call her Maggie at home.
- While the formal documents listed her as Margaret, she had been known exclusively as Maggie since her early childhood, reflecting the family's preference for informal address.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.