yenta

pronunciation

How to pronounce yenta in British English: UK ['jentə]word uk audio image

How to pronounce yenta in American English: US ['jentə] word us audio image

  • Noun:
    (Yiddish) a vulgar shrew; a shallow coarse termagant
    (Yiddish) a woman gossip unable to keep a secret; a woman who spreads rumors and scandal

Word Origin

yenta (n.)
"gossip, busybody," 1923, from Yente Telebende, comic strip gossip in 1920s-30s writing of Yiddish newspaper humorist B. Kovner (pen-name of Jacob Adler) in the "Jewish Daily Forward." It was a common Yiddish fem. proper name, altered from Yentl and said to be ultimately from Italian gentile "kind, gentle," earlier "noble, high-born" (see gentle).

Example

1. I think that was my yenta .
2. One day you will call me high priestess yenta .
3. Thanks , but harvard doesn 't give a degree in yenta .

more: >How to Use "yenta" with Example Sentences