Meanings
plural yetis
- biologyAn unidentified humanoid animal said to live in the Himalayas.
There is no doubt that the Sherpas accept the fact that the Yeti really exists. But then they believe just as confidently that their gods live in comfort on the summit of Mount Everest. We found it quite impossible to divorce the Yeti from the supernatural.
1962, Edmund Hillary, Desmond Doig, “Into the Mingbo Valley”, in High in the Thin Cold Air: The Story of the Himalayan Expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary, sponsored by World Book Encyclopedia, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 1311 more example
The Sherpas had no hesitation in pronouncing them to be those of a Snowman or "Yeti" (not "mirka" as Mr.Smythe's Tibetans had it), and they thought he was the smaller man-eating variety and not his larger yak-eating brother.[…]They may even have been our friend ursus arctoc pruinosus, but they were no more like the tracks of our "Yeti" than those of a two-toed anteater or an armadillo.
1937 November 13, Balu, “Are The 'Snowmen' Bears?”, in The Times, page 13Synonyms: abominable snowman
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn unidentified humanoid animal said to live 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
- Tibetanགཡའ་དྲེད“wildman, yeti”
- Englishyeti
Borrowed from Tibetan གཡའ་དྲེད (g.ya' dred, “wildman, yeti”), compound of གཡའ (g.ya', “dirt, rust, slate”) and དྲེད (dred, “bear”). Attested since 1937.
More words from Tibetan
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic يَتِي
- يَتِي (yatī)unidentified animal
Bulgarian йети
- йети (jeti)unidentified animal
Chinese Mandarin 雪人, 野人
- 雪人 (xuěrén)unidentified animal
- 野人 (yěrén)unidentified animal
Czech yeti, sněžný muž
- yetiunidentified animal
- sněžný mužunidentified animal
Dutch yeti
- yetiunidentified animal
Esperanto jetio
- jetiounidentified animal
Finnish lumimies, jeti
- lumimiesunidentified animal
- jetiunidentified animal
French yéti
- yétiunidentified animal
German Yeti, Schneemensch
- Yetiunidentified animal
- Schneemenschunidentified animal
Hebrew יטי
- יטיunidentified animal
Hungarian jeti
- jetiunidentified animal
Indonesian yeti
- yetiunidentified animal
Italian yeti
- yetiunidentified animal
Japanese イエティー, 野人
- イエティー (ietī)unidentified animal
- 野人 (yajin)unidentified animal
Korean 예티
- 예티 (yeti)unidentified animal
Persian یتی
- یتیunidentified animal
Polish yeti
- yetiunidentified animal
Portuguese iéti, abominável homem das neves
- iétiunidentified animal
- abominável homem das nevesunidentified animal
Russian йе́ти, сне́жный челове́к
- йе́ти (jjéti)unidentified animal
- сне́жный челове́к (snéžnyj čelovék)unidentified animal
- бигфу́т (bigfút)unidentified animal
Slovak yeti
- yetiunidentified animal
Swedish yeti, jeti
- yetiunidentified animal
- jetiunidentified animal
- snömanunidentified animal
Thai เยติ
- เยติ (yaydtì)unidentified animal
Ukrainian йє́ті, є́ті
- йє́ті (jjéti)unidentified animal
- є́ті (jéti)unidentified animal
- снігова́ люди́на (snihová ljudýna)unidentified animal
Vietnamese người tuyết
- người tuyếtunidentified animal
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yeti
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
yeti. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yeti
“yeti.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yeti. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yeti,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yeti.
Source: yeti on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.