rabbi

noun

rab·​bi ˈra-ˌbī 

1

: master, teacher

—used by Jews as a term of address

2

: a Jew qualified to expound and apply the halacha and other Jewish law

3

: a Jew trained and ordained for professional religious leadership

specifically : the official leader of a Jewish congregation

Examples of rabbi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Chai Posner is the senior rabbi at Beth Tfiloh Congregation in Pikesville. —Chai Posner, Baltimore Sun, 30 Apr. 2025

Kogan, 28, was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi and entrepreneur who managed Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store in Dubai, a city that has seen an influx of Israeli tourists and businesses since the Abraham Accords. —Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025

The rabbis, both of high repute, belong to different generations and display differing levels of stringency—the stricter is a grandfather; the other, his son-in-law, is more lenient but by no means lax. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025

Season 1 of the series, which follows the unlikely romance between an agnostic podcaster and a rabbi, spent six weeks in Netflix’s Global English Top 10 TV List and reached the Top 10 in 89 countries. —Lynette Rice, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek rhabbi, from Hebrew rabbī my master, from rabh master + -ī my

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for rabbi

• apply
• awry
• belie
• bely
• bigeye
• bonsai
• buckeye
• comply
• coxae
• decry
• defy
• deny

Kids Definition

rabbi

noun

rab·​bi ˈrab-ˌī 

1

: master entry 1 sense 1a, teacher

—used as a term of address for Jewish religious leaders

2

: a professionally trained leader of a Jewish congregation

rabbinic

rə-ˈbin-ik

ra-

adjective

or rabbinical

-i-kəl

Etymology

Old English rabbi "term of address used for Jewish religious leaders," from Latin rabbi (same meaning), from Greek rhabbi (same meaning), from Hebrew rabbī "my master," from rabh "master" and the suffix -ī "my"