shtetl

American

[shtet-l, shtey-tl] / ˈʃtɛt l, ˈʃteɪ tl /

noun

Yiddish.

plural

shtetlach,

plural

shtetls

(formerly) a Jewish village or small-town community in eastern Europe.

shtetl British

/ ˈʃtetəl /

noun

(formerly) a small Jewish community in Eastern Europe

"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 shtetl

Yiddish, little town

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.

Luboml, formerly in Poland and now part of Ukraine, was one such a shtetl, to use the Yiddish word for town.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

It’s 1905, and Anatevka isn’t the shtetl that it once was.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2025

By setting Aleichem's words to Jerry Bock's Eastern European-inspired music, Harnick created a new mythological shtetl that Jews in America could be deeply proud of.

From Salon • Jul. 8, 2023

When Mr. Jaffee was 6, she uprooted him and his three younger brothers, taking them back to her childhood shtetl in Zarasai, Lithuania.

From Washington Post • Apr. 10, 2023

Caught in Gitl’s embrace, Hannah suddenly remembered the little house in the shtetl and the big, embracing arms of Shmuel.

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023