Meanings
plural schlubs · alternative schlob · alternative shlub · alternative shlubb
- JewishNew York CityderogatoryinformalslangA person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, unattractive or unkempt.
After the success of the film Jaws in 1975, two schlubs went around the United States pretending to be director Steven Spielberg and lead actor Richard Dreyfuss.
2022, W. David Marx, chapter 4, in Status and Culture, Viking, →ISBN2 more examples
It wasn’t sufficient for Mother to use the rolling pin on that hapless brother of mine; she’d also call him Zlob, or Cham, another Polish term for an awkward peasant, something that a son of a nice Jewish family should never be.
2000, Frank Stiffel, The Oxymoron Factor – Franek: Stranger in My Land, Viking, →ISBN“Do you want me to go in for a quick snoop and poop?” “No. You cannot go. They will sense you. No, we need a mortal. A human. A common schlub. A nobody. Someone whose personality is like a eunuch. Do you know?” “Okay, I'm gonna go. I'll go. All right? I'll go.”
2020 June 3, William Meny, “Witches” (5:14 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Nadja (Natasia Demetriou)
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Polishżłób“manger, trough; furrow, large groove in the soil”
- Yiddishזשלאָב“goyish bumpkin, redneck”
- Englishschlub
From Yiddish זשלאָב (zhlob, “goyish bumpkin, redneck”), derived from Polish żłób (“manger, trough; furrow, large groove in the soil”). Compare Russian жлоб (žlob). Originated in Eastern Europe as part of klezmer musician cant (Klezmer-loshn). In its original sense, the word only applied to non-Jewish males. Strom (2002) lists "zhlobukhe-elzet" as a synonym, "zhlobevke" and "zlobike" (זלאָביקע) as female counterparts. The precise nature of the semantic leap from "manger, crib" to "boorish goy" remains unclear. In any case, by the year 1869, it had become common enough to be included in a Russian-Yiddish dictionary published in Zhytomyr. Jewish immigrants brought the word to the United States, where it is best known under the form schlub. False cognate of English slob.
More words from Yiddish, Polish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto krudulo, maldelikatulo
- kruduloperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
- maldelikatuloperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
- brutoperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
- ŝtipkapuloperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
Finnish tomppeli, tollo
- tomppeliperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
- tolloperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
French plouc
- ploucperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
Polish niechluj
- niechlujperson who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
Russian жлоб, лох
- жлоб (žlob)person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
- лох (lox)person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
Yiddish זשלאָב
- זשלאָב (zhlob)person who is clumsy, oafish, socially awkward, or unattractive or unkempt
Cite this entry
schlub. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schlub
“schlub.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schlub. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schlub,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schlub.
Source: schlub on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.