chacham

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Pronunciations

chacham (khah-KHAM) listen
chacham (KHUH-khuhm) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Rabbi (Sephardi).

  • n. Wise, learned person; genius.

  • n. Wiseguy.

Example Sentences

  • "Chacham (Sephardic equivalent of “Rabbi”) Yosef Chaim, known as the “Ben Ish Chai,” became the Rav of Baghdad at the age of twenty-five, in the year 5619 (1859), the year following the death of his father, Chacham Rav Eliyahu." (source)

  • "Every chacham deserves kavod." "That guy is quite a chacham, getting all those credit cards with no credit history" (Weiser)

  • "Chacham! Where did you learn how to weld?!"

  • "So you thought you could fix it then, did you, chochem?" (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Ladino

Etymology

  • Heb חכם khakhám, Yiddish חכם khókhem 'wise man; ironic: a fool', Ladino חכם hacham 'teacher, rabbinic leader'

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage
      • Sephardim: Jews with Sephardi or Mizrahi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      khokhem, chocham, chochem, hacham, haham, chuchum, chochem, chochm

Notes

  • plural chachomim, chachamim (חכמים)

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