chutzpah
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of chutzpah
C20: from Yiddish
Explanation
Chutzpah means fearlessness. It takes chutzpah to stand in front of the whole class and announce that you are a better writer than William Shakespeare. Chutzpah is a Yiddish word meaning "impudence or gall." Bravery that borders on rudeness is chutzpah, which rhymes with "foot spa." If you have chutzpah, you say what you think without worrying about hurting someone's feelings, looking silly, or getting in trouble. A display of chutzpah is meant to make a statement, like the chutzpah of the girl who shaves her head in protest of impossible beauty standards.
Vocabulary lists containing chutzpah
Hidden Figures
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Scrabble: High Scoring Words
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Into the Wild
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Personally, I applaud the president and his family, at least for their chutzpah.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Putting aside the chutzpah of the bootstrapping, it’s not clear that the court is wrong.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
He added: "Nigel Farage has chutzpah to return to the stage and say 'things are disastrous, and I'm the person to fix it'."
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
When the film cuts to 12 years later, nothing has changed, including his chutzpah.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
It coquettishly combines 1920s chutzpah and eighteenth-century courtly dance, quoting along the way actual music by eighteenth-century Italian composers.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
