Jewdar

J8E1W4D2A1R1

noun

The supposed ability of a person to detect or intuitively sense whether another person is Jewish.

Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounJewdar (uncountable)
  1. slanguncountableThe supposed ability of a person to detect or intuitively sense whether another person is Jewish.

    So she was Jewish. It wouldn't have occurred to me, but Melissa always faulted my Jewdar.

    2011, Lawrence Douglas, The Vices, Other Press, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    And slap on a gag order if we dare say that these traits triggered our "Jewdar" (my Semitic equivalent of gaydar) and allowed us to identify someone as a fellow Jew.

    2001, Ophira Edut, “Bubbe Got Back: Tales of a Jewess with Caboose”, in Danya Ruttenberg, editor, Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism, Seal Press, →ISBN, page 30

    The name Grossman, the physician father, the mention of Florida—my Jewdar went whirring away, strongly suggesting that he could be a member of the tribe.

    2015, Joseph Epstein, Masters of the Games: Essays and Stories on Sport, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 82

Origin

From Jew + -dar.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Jewdar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jewdar

MLA

“Jewdar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jewdar. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Jewdar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jewdar.

Source: Jewdar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.