shtetl
Americannoun
plural
shtetlach,plural
shtetlsnoun
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.
Michtom, who emigrated in 1888 from an impoverished shtetl in the Russian Pale of Settlement, noted that the czar “was never that humanitarian.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
It’s 1905, and Anatevka isn’t the shtetl that it once was.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2025
Not long after Jewish author Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" had launched second-wave feminism, Harnick introduced the shtetl of Anatevka and its quaint ways through a song about unequal gender roles.
From Salon • Jul. 8, 2023
Their mother remained in the shtetl, and Mr. Jaffee never saw her again.
From Washington Post • Apr. 10, 2023
She had no idea what a shtetl was but felt stupid admitting that to him.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
