yenta

Y4E1N1T1A1

noun

A woman who meddles in the business of others; a busybody; a female gossipmonger.

“Please don't tell your girlfriend what I said; she's a yenta!”

UncommonScrabble 8

Meanings

nounyenta (plural yentas)

plural yentas · alternative yente · alternative yentl

  1. JewishA woman who meddles in the business of others; a busybody; a female gossipmonger.

    Please don't tell your girlfriend what I said; she's a yenta!

    1 more example

    And you had to marry that yenta West Side broad from a family of ward politicians and punchboard gamblers of candy-store kikes and sewer inspectors.

    1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 201

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Yiddishיענטע
  2. Yiddishיענטע
  3. Englishyenta

Borrowed from Yiddish יענטע (yente).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

yenta. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yenta

MLA

“yenta.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yenta. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yenta,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yenta.

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