Wandering Jew

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noun

a legendary character condemned to roam without rest because he struck Christ on the day of the Crucifixion.

Also wandering Jew, Wan·der·ing-jew

[won-der-ing-joo]. /ˈwɒn dər ɪŋˈdʒu/. Also called inch plant. any of various trailing or creeping plants, as Zebrina pendula or Tradescantia fluminensis, having green or variegated leaves: a popular houseplant.

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Origin of Wandering Jew

First recorded in 1625–35

Words nearby Wandering Jew

wandering, wandering abscess, wandering albatross, wandering cell, wandering goiter, Wandering Jew, wandering kidney, wandering pacemaker, Wanderjahr, wanderlust, wanderoo

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Wandering Jew in a sentence

But the enemy of the new emirs is neither the Jew nor the Christian, it is the godless militant defending secularism.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Mr. Bachner found it by wandering through the market and identified a craftsmen here who works in a tiny booth.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Marrying another Jew was not just a personal simcha (joy), but one for the community.
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
An Australian woman in her late twenties told me she was an “honorary Jew” with no actual Jewish heritage.
I Ate Potato Pancakes Til I Plotzed|Emily Shire|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And, in a gratuitous show of homicidal prowess, Moses kills two assassins he meets while wandering in the desert of Sinai.
Meet Moses the Swashbuckling Israelite|James Romm|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She observed his pale looks, and the distracted wandering of his eyes; but she would not notice either.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
This mode of learning promotes attention and prevents mind-wandering.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
He paled a little, and sucked his lip, his eyes wandering to the girl, who stood in stolid inapprehension of what was being said.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
John and Judas became the good and evil Wandering Jews of mediæval folklore.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
He was relieved to learn that his grandson Moses Mole was not wandering about the garden, after all.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for Wandering Jew (1 of 2)

wandering Jew

noun

any of several related creeping or trailing plants of tropical America, esp Tradescantia fluminensis and Zebrina pendula: family Commelinaceae

Australian a similar creeping plant of the genus Commelina

British Dictionary definitions for Wandering Jew (2 of 2)

Wandering Jew

noun

(in medieval legend) a character condemned to roam the world eternally because he mocked Christ on the day of the Crucifixion

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