goy

[ goi ]
/ gɔɪ /

noun, plural goy·im [goi-im], /ˈgɔɪ ɪm/, goys.Usually Disparaging.

a term used by a Jew to refer to someone who is not Jewish.
a term used by an observant Jew to refer to a Jew who is not religious or is ignorant of Judaism.

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Sometimes goi .

Origin of goy

First recorded in 1835–45; from Yiddish, from Hebrew goi “nation, non-Jew, Jew ignorant of the Jewish religion”

usage note for goy

Use of this term usually implies a contempt for non-Jews as being different from or even inferior to Jews: Only a goy would use such faulty logic. goy is rarely used in a neutral, descriptive way as a synonym for gentile , though that is its meaning in Yiddish and Hebrew. In another usually disparaging usage, goy is applied to a Jew who is not observant.

OTHER WORDS FROM goy

goyish, adjective

Words nearby goy

gowl, gown, gownsman, go wrong, gox, goy, Goya, Goya, Francisco, Goyen, goyish, gozzle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for goy

British Dictionary definitions for goy

goy
/ (ɡɔɪ) /

noun plural goyim (ˈɡɔɪɪm) or goys

a Jewish word for a gentile

Derived forms of goy

goyish, adjective

Word Origin for goy

from Yiddish, from Hebrew goi people
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