yenta

American  

[yen-tuh] / ˈjɛn tə /

noun

Slang.

1. a person, especially a woman, who is a busybody or gossip.

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Etymology

Origin of yenta

First recorded in 1930–35; from Yiddish yente, originally a female personal name, earlier Yentl, ultimately from Old Italian; compare Italian gentile “kind, amiable,” originally, “noble, highborn”; see gentle

Example Sentences

There is also a Jewish Currents podcast, “On the Nose,” and a regular dating feature for “lovelorn leftists,” Red Yenta.

From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2022

“If I were making a Red Yenta profile, mine would definitely specify ‘no anarchists,’ ” Isser said.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 7, 2019

Before Red Yenta, Brostoff had stumbled on a Facebook page called “OKComrade,” an OkCupid knockoff.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 7, 2019

In his excellent review of Evan Thomas’s “First,” Jeffrey Toobin repeats Justice O’Connor’s self-description as “the Yenta of Paradise Valley,” which was intended as a reference to her matchmaking skills.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2019

The six years during which he reigned were rendered remarkable by the conclusion of a stable peace with the Tartar Yenta, who accepted the title of a Prince of the Empire.

From China by Boulger, Demetrius Charles