Yom Kippur

American  

[yawm kip-er, yohm, yom, yawm kee-poor, yohm ki-puhr] / yɔm ˈkɪp ər, yoʊm, yɒm, ˈyɔm kiˈpur, yoʊm ˈkɪ pər /

noun

Judaism.

1. a Jewish high holy day observed on the 10th day of the month of Tishri by abstinence from food and drink and by the daylong recitation of prayers of repentance in the synagogue.

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Yom Kippur British  

/ jɔm kiˈpur, jɒm ˈkɪpə /

noun

1. Also called: Day of Atonement.  an annual Jewish holiday celebrated on Tishri 10 as a day of fasting, on which prayers of penitence are recited in the synagogue throughout the day

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Yom Kippur Cultural  

1. In Judaism, the Day of Atonement, the most important religious holiday; a day of fasting to atone for sins. It comes in autumn. (See Rosh Hashanah.)

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Etymology

Origin of Yom Kippur

From Hebrew, equivalent to yōm “day” + kippūr “atonement”

Example Sentences

While the natural inclination is to draw comparisons to the 1970s – the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and the Iranian revolution of 1979 – the strategists say they don’t quite fit.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026

They were the Gulf War of 1990, the Iranian revolution in 1979 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

The rabbi said the attack, which happened on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar, made this year's Holocaust Memorial Day "more poignant".

From BBC • Jan. 27, 2026

The pair arrived in the country just months before the Yom Kippur war in 1973, when a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria overran Israel’s front line.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025

Yom Kippur was our Day of Atonement, spent in fasting and prayer.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros