goyish

[ goi-ish ]

adjective

, Usually Disparaging.

1. being, pertaining to, or characteristic of a goy or goys:

   explaining Passover to my goyish boss;

   a goyish version of chicken soup.

Sensitive Note

See goy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of goyish¹

goy + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Postwar Hollywood tackled the issue of antisemitism — from a goyish viewpoint — in films like “Gentleman’s Agreement,” in which Gregory Peck played a journalist posing as a Jew to root out bigotry.

From New York Times

In my Monday column about 92-year-old Gerry Steinkeller’s much-delayed bar mitzvah, I evidenced an imperfect, goyish notion of Judaism.

From Washington Post

He was also successful as a breeder of Arabian horses — something as goyish as you could get, and indeed Nichols felt bad about having neglected his Jewishness.

From New York Times

This week’s actual guest star is Elayne Boosler, and for those too goyish to know who that is, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend provides a handy explainer: “You’ve got your Totie Fields, your Joan Rivers, your Fran Drescher, and then you got your Elayne Boosler,” Naomi tells Valencia of the comedian, who is allegedly a childhood friend she met at the affluent “Camp Kavetcha.”

From Slate

It terms of specificity, it’s hard to beat “If you’re honored for your mitzvahs/ Call a Camp Kavetcha sister/ If she’s famous and she’s distant/ Get in touch with her assistant/ If you still can’t find her/ Have your daughter’s goyish friend remind her.”

From Slate