schmuck
Americannoun
-
schmucks
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of schmuck
First recorded in 1890–95, schmuck is from the Yiddish word shmok (vulgar) literally, “penis” (of uncertain origin)
Compare meaning
How does schmuck compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A schmuck is a loser, idiot, or jerk. This Yiddish word is a little old-fashioned and not very harsh. If you've ever felt like a dummy or sucker, you've felt like a schmuck. This is one of many Yiddish words for "jerk" or "idiot" that are common in English, including schmo, schlub, schlemiel, and schnook. Old-fashioned and kind of unusual, schmuck is probably one of the least mean ways to call someone a loser.
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.
See Examples For:
“They think, ‘I’m the only schmuck that feels this bad,’ and never get the corrective feedback that depression is like the common cold of mental illness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
“And I’ve always loved that the ultimate arbiter of any performance has been the audience and not some schmuck producer or executive producer.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
"They called me the schmuck from Hanover," he laughs.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2023
"He turned out to be the biggest schmuck I've ever met," she said.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2023
Now I was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
“If you are Richie Weeks, you think to yourself, ‘Who are these schmucks?
From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2022
Endorsing schmucks you've never met in your life and couldn't care less about and then spreading some cash around.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2021
The not-exactly-hidden subtext being, "that won't happen again, schmucks".
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2019
“And we’re the schmucks that are paying for the whole thing.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 9, 2018
Jonah Hill and Miles Teller play a couple of schmucks who manage to make big bucks in the international arms trade in the fact-based 2016 dark comedy "War Dogs."
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2017
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.
