Meanings
plural abominable snowmen
- capitalizedoftenbiologyA humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas.
The Abominable Snowman – existing and not existing, flickering at the edges of blizzards, apelike man or manlike ape, stealthy, elusive, known only through rumours and through its backward-pointing footprints.
2003, Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake, Virago Press (2013), page 8Synonyms: yeti
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna large hairy humanoid creature said to live in the Himalayas
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Tibetanམི་སྡུག་གངས་མི
- Englishabominable snowman
First attested in 1921. Calque of Tibetan མི་སྡུག་གངས་མི (mi sdug gangs mi), from མི་སྡུག (mi sdug, “repulsive, unlovely, ugly, hideous”) and གངས་མི (gangs mi, “snowman”).
More words from Tibetan
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian йети
- йети (jeti)humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Chinese Mandarin 雪人
- 雪人 (xuěrén)humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Dutch verschrikkelijke sneeuwman, yeti
- verschrikkelijke sneeuwmanhumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- yetihumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Esperanto jetio
- jetiohumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Finnish lumimies
- lumimieshumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
French abominable homme des neiges, yéti
- abominable homme des neigeshumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- yétihumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
German Yeti, Schneemensch
- Yetihumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- Schneemenschhumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Hungarian jeti
- jetihumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Icelandic snjómaður
- snjómaðurhumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Italian abominevole uomo delle nevi
- abominevole uomo delle nevihumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Japanese 雪男, イエティ
- 雪男 (yukiotoko)humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- イエティ (ieti)humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Māori kōwao puaheiri
- kōwao puaheirihumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Polish człowiek śniegu
- człowiek śnieguhumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Portuguese abominável homem das neves
- abominável homem das neveshumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Romanian omul zăpezilor
- omul zăpezilorhumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Russian сне́жный челове́к, йе́ти
- сне́жный челове́к (snéžnyj čelovék)humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- йе́ти (jjéti)humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Spanish abominable hombre de las nieves, abominable humanoide nival
- abominable hombre de las nieveshumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- abominable humanoide nivalhumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
- abominable homínido níveohumanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas
Cite this entry
abominable snowman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abominable%20snowman
“abominable snowman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abominable%20snowman. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abominable snowman,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abominable%20snowman.
Source: abominable snowman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.