chutzpah

British  

/ ˈxʊtspə /

noun

1. informal shameless audacity; impudence

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chutzpah Cultural  

1. Yiddish term for courage bordering on arrogance, roughly equivalent to “nerve” (in the slang sense): “It took a lot of chutzpah to make such a controversial statement.”

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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.

Example Sentences

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

Launching a business without your knowledge when you were about to give birth takes some chutzpah.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 2, 2026

When the film cuts to 12 years later, nothing has changed, including his chutzpah.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

“He had the chutzpah to actually do something spectacular, which certain people find attractive and courageous,” said Jeff Goodwin, a New York University professor who studies social movements.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

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

Related Words

• arrogance
• audacity
• boldness
• gall