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schmuck

American  
[shmuhk] / ʃmʌk /
Also shmuck

noun

Slang.

  1. an obnoxious or contemptible person.

schmuck British  
/ ʃmʌk /

noun

  1. slang a stupid or contemptible person; oaf

"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

Etymology

Origin of schmuck

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

Compare meaning

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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.

“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

"They called me the schmuck from Hanover," he laughs.

From BBC • Aug. 19, 2023

I feel like a schmuck for financing her and her kids.

From Slate • Jan. 6, 2023

A 6-foot-tall stack of $100 bills dressed in a Savile Row suit, Bevel’s only notable trait is that he’s a schmuck.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2022

Now I was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

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.