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crypto-Jew

American  
[krip-toh-joo] / ˈkrɪp toʊˌdʒu /

noun

  1. a member of a Jewish community who secretly practices Judaism while officially converting, under duress, to either Christianity or Islam.


Example Sentences

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That book is an idiosyncratic account of the explorer’s life by Salvador de Madariaga, a Spanish historian, who insisted that Columbus was a Catalan crypto-Jew whose family had migrated to Genoa.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

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