bupkis

American  

[buhp-kuhs, buhp-kis] / ˈbʌp kəs, ˈbʌpˌkɪs /

Also bupkes, or bubkes

noun

1. nothing.

   They've told us bupkis—we're going to have to find out what's going on for ourselves.

2. very little; the smallest amount.

   It was a revolutionary piece of technology, and yet the inventor sold it for bupkis.

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Etymology

Origin of bupkis

First recorded in 1935–40; from Yiddish bobkes, plural of bobke “piece of goat excrement, worthless thing,” literally “little bean,” from Slavic, equivalent to Polish bób “broad bean” + -ke, diminutive suffix; see also bean ( def. )

Example Sentences

So charging $1 on a $98 barrel is bupkis to oil producers and consumers, while it adds up to real money over time for the Iranians.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

They don't want to speak to us because we exercise our legal right to strike when they wasted the entire unprecedented 12-day extension and ended up offering us basically bupkis.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2023

It’s the cinematic equivalent of an everything bagel: a substrate of bupkis, dressed up with whatever you can throw on it.

From Washington Post • Mar. 29, 2022

Twenty women vie for the affections of two men — one’s got big bucks, the other’s got bupkis — in the series reboot “Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2022

In other words, another week or so will pass with the legislature having provided bupkis in the form of aid or stimulus to combat the pandemic that has shut down the world.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2020