shtick
Americannoun
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(especially in comic acting) a routine or piece of business inserted to gain a laugh or draw attention to oneself.
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one's special interest, talent, etc.
noun
Etymology
Origin of shtick
First recorded in 1955–60; from Yiddish shtik “pranks, whims,” literally, “piece,” from Middle High German stücke, Old High German stucki ( German Stück ); stucco
Explanation
Your shtick is the particular gimmick or act you like to perform — it's your theme. After dinner parties, your shtick might be showing everyone your pet cobra. A comedian or performer often has a shtick, which becomes the trick, song, or joke that people associate with her specifically. A clown's shtick could be falling flat on his back, and a pop star's shtick might be sticking out her tongue. In Yiddish, a shtik is "an act or gimmick," or sometimes "a trick or a prank." Literally, the word means "a little piece" or "a slice," from Middle High German stücke, "piece."
Vocabulary lists containing shtick
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.
You can say his act is getting stale, the whole shtick thinning out, but only when an act is truly vivid and has truly pierced can you trace the ups and downs of its lifespan.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
Some shows, like Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino’s “Off Book: The Improvised Musical” — where their whole shtick is to make a musical from scratch on the spot — were born for these moments.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025
In the first few minutes of the interview, Mailman delivers her usual shtick.
From Slate • Oct. 7, 2025
The cutesy performance shtick around a shoestring variety show — imagine Pee-wee’s Playhouse without the bewitching oddity — grows wearying.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025
Iv I’d me shtick I’d talk to ye both, and see if your heads weren’t thick as a Tipperary boy’s, I would.
From Off to the Wilds Being the Adventures of Two Brothers by Hildibrand, Henri Théophile
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.
