schmuck

[shmuhk]

See more synonyms for schmuck on Thesaurus.com

noun Slang.

an obnoxious or contemptible person.

Origin of schmuck

First recorded in 1890–95, schmuck is from the Yiddish word shmok (vulgar) literally, penis (of uncertain origin)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for schmuck

clod, dunce, stooge, blockhead, victim, lightweight, bore, sap, nerd, dolt, turkey, oaf, cretin, idiot, nitwit, simple, innocent, moron, boob, jackass

Examples from the Web for schmuck

Contemporary Examples of schmuck

But quite unlike the schmuck, and this is the fun part, they never run up the white flag; indeed quite the opposite.
Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game
Michael Tomasky
January 2, 2015
Unlike that Obama schmuck, who they regard as a total loser.
CPAC: Come for the Crazy, Stay for the Party
Michelle Cottle
March 7, 2014
By contrast, Anglophones have been using words like schmuck, putz, mamzer, and gonif for only a century or so.
Mazel Tov, Arvind! But Are You Sure It’s Not Kneydl?
Daniel Gross
May 31, 2013
Rudy looked like a schmuck, and I'd say Lhota is looking like one today.
Offensive Art: Those Were the Days
Michael Tomasky
March 28, 2013
This year, that schmuck is Florida senator and 2016 hopeful Marco Rubio.
Marco Rubio And The State of the Union Response Speech Curse
Michelle Cottle
February 12, 2013

Historical Examples of schmuck

Mr. Schmuck was an excellent "paterfamilias," and took great care of children.
Debts of Honor
Maurus Jkai
Mr. Schmuck is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Walla Walla.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2)
William Denison Lyman
He gave to the city of Colfax what is known as Schmuck Park and many other evidences of his public spirit could be cited.
Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 2 (of 2)
William Denison Lyman
Mr. Schmuck sat in his chair with a sweet smile, and putting his hands together twirled his thumbs.
Debts of Honor
Maurus Jkai

British Dictionary definitions for schmuck

schmuck

noun

US slang a stupid or contemptible person; oaf

Word Origin for schmuck

from Yiddish schmuck penis, from German Schmuck decoration, from Middle High German smucken to press into

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

Word Origin and History for schmuck

also shmuck, "contemptible person," 1892, from East Yiddish shmok, literally "penis," probably from Old Polish smok "grass snake, dragon," and likely not the same word as German Schmuck "jewelry, adornments," which is related to Low German smuck "supple, tidy, trim, elegant," and to Old Norse smjuga "slip, step through" (see smock).

In Jewish homes, the word was "regarded as so vulgar as to be taboo" [Leo Rosten, "The Joys of Yiddish," 1968] and Lenny Bruce wrote that saying it on stage got him arrested on the West Coast "by a Yiddish undercover agent who had been placed in the club several nights running to determine if my use of Yiddish terms was a cover for profanity." Euphemized as schmoe, which was the source of Al Capp's cartoon strip creature the shmoo.

"[A]dditional associative effects from German schmuck 'jewels, decoration' cannot be excluded (cross-linguistically commonplace slang: cf. Eng. 'family jewels')" [Mark R.V. Southern, "Contagious Couplings: Transmission of Expressives in Yiddish Echo Phrases," 2005]. But the English phrase refers to the testicles and is a play on words, the "family" element being the essential ones. Words for "decoration" seem not to be among the productive sources of European "penis" slang terms.