Judenstern

J8U1D2E1N1S1T1E1R1N1

noun

A yellow badge forced upon ordinary Jews (and many legally ‘Jewish’ people) in Western Axis states.

First used 20th c.Scrabble 18

Meanings

nounJudenstern (plural Judensterns)

plural Judensterns

  1. countablehistoricalA yellow badge forced upon ordinary Jews (and many legally ‘Jewish’ people) in Western Axis states.First known use 20th c.

    For the exiled black man who had to bear his skin — the symbol of rejection — like a "Judenstern," there could be no escape.

    1970, Barend van Dyk Van Niekerk, The African Image (Négritude) in the Work of Léopold Sédar Senghor, Balkema (A.A.), page 107
    2 more examples

    A yellow Star of David—a Judenstern, as the Germans called it—with the word “Jude” embroidered in the center was on the left side of her coat just below her collar bone..

    2011 March 18, Ingrid U. Cowan, The Shadow of the Hakenkreuz, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 3

    Therefore, Jews had to walk wherever they tried to go, although the wearing of a “Judenstern” or Jewish star on every outer garment was enforced at pain of death.

    2014 April 1, Gerhard Falk, The German Jews in America: A Minority within a Minority, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, →ISBN, page 46

    Synonyms: yellow star

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA yellow badge forced upon ordinary Jews (and many legally ‘Jewish’ people) in Western Axis states.

Also see

Origin

  1. GermanJudenstern
  2. EnglishJudenstern

Borrowed from German Judenstern, literally "Jew-star".

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Judenstern. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Judenstern

MLA

“Judenstern.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Judenstern. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Judenstern,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Judenstern.

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