schnorrer

American  

[shnawr-er, shnohr-] / ˈʃnɔr ər, ˈʃnoʊr- /

Or shnorrer

noun

Slang.

1. a person who habitually borrows or lives at the expense of others with no intention of repaying; sponger; moocher; beggar.

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schnorrer British  

/ ˈʃnɔːrə /

noun

1. slang a person who lives off the charity of others; professional beggar

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Etymology

Origin of schnorrer

First recorded in 1890–95; from Yiddish shnorer “sponger, moocher,” equivalent to shnor(n) “to beg” (compare Middle High German snurren “to hum, buzz, whir”); sense “beg” from beggars' custom of playing a small pipe or whistle ( German Schnurrpfeife ) + -er -er ¹

Example Sentences

“She should be counting your curls, not her gifts. We will load the chickens in the wagon with the other wedding gifts. Those schnorrers in Viosk will not think we do not honor our own.”

From Literature

As an altar boy growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he heard his first Yiddish word — schnorrer, or freeloader — uttered by Groucho Marx in “Animal Crackers.”

From New York Times

The schnorrer, the pushcart nebbish, the fruit jobber from the docks.

From BusinessWeek

Gitl kept rearranging the gifts, making them seem to be twice as numerous, saying again, “Those schnorrers in Viosk will know we honor our own.”

From Literature