-nik

a suffix of nouns that refer, usually derogatorily, to persons who support or are concerned or associated with a particular political cause or group, cultural attitude, or the like: beatnik, filmnik; no-goodnik; peacenik.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of -nik

< Yiddish (cf. nudnik) < Slavic: a personal suffix in Slavic languages in contact with Yiddish

Words nearby -nik

-nap, -nastic, -nasty, -naut, -ness, -nik, -noia, -nomy, -o, -o-, -oate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for -nik

-nik

suffix forming nouns

denoting a person associated with a specified state, belief, or qualitybeatnik; refusenik

Word Origin for -nik

C20: from Russian -nik, as in Sputnik, and influenced by Yiddish -nik (agent suffix)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012