shtick

noun

variants or less commonly schtick or shtik
1
: a usually comic or repetitious performance or routine : bit
2
: one's special trait, interest, or activity : bag
he's alive and well and now doing his shtick out in HollywoodRobert Daley
shticky adjective

Examples of shtick in a Sentence

That joke is part of his shtick. Sports are just not my shtick.
Recent Examples on the Web DeSantis’ whole shtick is railing against trans people and gay people and African American history. Keli Goff, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 May 2023 And the rest of the film consists of the usual shtick: Cole is wowed by Sadie’s fighting and shooting abilities amid a series of uninspired action set pieces, and the honey man eventually grows a pair and whoops some ass. Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2023 And this is not a matter of insincerity, as if shtick were masking a hidden core of authenticity; rather, performance emerges as the very essence of social life and of self-recognition. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2023 Pee-wee, beneath his shtick, was always real, or real enough. Bruce Handy, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2023 John Mulaney and his whole eternally youthful, endlessly upbeat, admirably dapper shtick? Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 July 2023 Since the earliest days of this magazine, when psychoanalysis was a relatively new shtick, analysts and their patients have been a cartoon staple. The New Yorker, 10 July 2023 In fact all the contestants should have some similar kind of shtick, just as many teams do in dugouts. Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2023 Insomnia Cookies was the first in the market, bringing its late-night delivery shtick to a Broad Ripple location about 11 years ago. The Indianapolis Star, 5 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shtick.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Yiddish shtik pranks, literally, piece, from Middle High German stücke, from Old High German stucki; akin to Old English stycce piece, Old High German stoc stick — more at stock entry 1

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shtick was in 1959

Dictionary Entries Near shtick

Cite this Entry

“Shtick.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shtick. Accessed 28 Sep. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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