shiksa

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Pronunciations

shiksa (SHIK-sah) listen

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Definitions

  • n. (potentially offensive) A non-Jewish girl.

  • n. (potentially offensive) A housemaid.

  • n. (potentially offensive; Orthodox) A non-religious Jewish girl; a non-Orthodox Jewish girl.

Example Sentences

  • "She's a really nice girl but, she's a shiksa."

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Y שיקסע shíkse

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

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

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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      Alternative Spellings

      shikse, schickza, shikza, schikza

Notes

  • Traditionally a derogatory word, but some attempts have been made to reappropriate it in recent years.

    Ultimately derives from Hebrew שקץ shékets 'abomination'.

    See also sheygets.

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