Explore M-W
nebbish was our Word of the Day on 04/17/2012. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Recent Examples of nebbish from the Web
-
G.T. Norman *** Richard Gere gives the most annoying performance of his career - by design - in this offbeat movie about a New York nebbish swept up in big-time finance and Israeli politics.
-
G.T. Norman *** Richard Gere gives the most annoying performance of his career - by design - in this offbeat movie about a New York nebbish swept up in big-time finance and Israeli politics.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nebbish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
From what I read …. it looks like Pa isn't anything like the nebbish Ma is always making him out to be…. Sounds like poor Pa got a bum rap, at least according to a 1951 book review that appeared in The New York Times. The unfortunate Pa unwittingly demonstrates much about the etymology of nebbish, which derives from the Yiddish nebekh, meaning "poor" or "unfortunate." As you might expect for a timid word like nebbish, the journey from Yiddish to English wasn't accomplished in a single bold leap of spelling and meaning. In its earliest English uses in the 1840s, it was spelled nebbich and used interjectionally as an expression of dismay.
Origin and Etymology of nebbish
Yiddish nebekh poor, unfortunate, from Czech nebohý
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up nebbish? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!