nebbish
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From American Yiddish נעביש (nebish), from נעבעך (nebekh, “poor, unfortunate”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nebbish (plural nebbishes)
- One who is fearful and timid, especially in making decisions and plans, in discussions, debates, arguments, and confrontations, and in taking responsibility.
- Actor Rick Moranis often plays a nebbish.
- 2001, Foster Hirsh, quoting Woody Allen, Love, Sex, Death, and the Meaning of Life: The Films of Woody Allen[1]:
- “I don't consider myself a nebbish,” Woody told interviewers early in his career, “but everyone else does.”
- 2018 March 1, Steven Kurutz, quoting Lisa Schwarzbaum, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like ‘Manhattan’?”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:
- But as Lisa Schwarzbaum, the former movie critic for Entertainment Weekly, pointed out in an email interview, “‘Manhattan’ was always about a middle-aged man with a high school girlfriend. Back then, ‘Manhattan’ was made by Woody the Lovable Neurotic Nebbish, and now it has been made by Allen the Monster. And it’s the same movie.”
- 2023 May 14, Alix Strauss, “How the Head of a Filmmaking Center Spends His Sundays”, in The New York Times[3]:
- “Having a camera in my hands transformed a nebbish into someone who could make New York into a better place,” he said. “To help others do the same is important to us.”