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Shylock

American  
[shahy-lok] / ˈʃaɪ lɒk /

noun

  1. a relentless and revengeful moneylender in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

  2. a hard-hearted moneylender.

verb (used without object)

  1. (lowercase) to lend money at extortionate rates of interest.

Shylock British  
/ ˈʃaɪˌlɒk /

noun

  1. a heartless or demanding creditor

"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
Shylock Cultural  

  1. The merciless moneylender in The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare. He demands a pound of flesh (see also pound of flesh) from the title character of the play after the merchant defaults on his debt.

Discover More

Shylock is a Jew (see also Jews), and there has long been controversy over whether Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock contributes to prejudice against Jews. Shylock is a cruel miser and eventually is heavily fined and disgraced, but he maintains his dignity. At one point in the play, he makes a famous, eloquent assertion that his desire for revenge is the same desire that a Christian would feel in his place. “I am a Jew,” says Shylock. “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?”

Other Word Forms

  • Shylockian adjective
  • Shylocky adjective

Etymology

Origin of Shylock

C19: after Shylock, the name of the heartless usurer in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1596)

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.

But before Page reaches Iago, he spends time with Shylock from the “The Merchant of Venice.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2026

He played Shylock in a 2005 production of “The Merchant of Venice” and Gremio in “The Taming of the Shrew,” among many other roles.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2023

British actor Tracy-Ann Oberman, who is Jewish and currently playing Jewish character Shylock in a production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, wrote about representation in a post on Instagram this week.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2023

“I look at Shylock as a proxy for the other,” he said.

From Washington Post • Apr. 7, 2022

I suddenly wondered if my father was really like Shylock.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

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.