yenta

[ yen-tuh ]

noun

, Slang.

1. a person, especially a woman, who is a busybody or gossip.

Word History and Origins

Origin of yenta¹

First recorded in 1930–35; from Yiddish yente, originally a female personal name, earlier Yentl, ultimately from Old Italian; compare Italian gentile “kind, amiable,” originally, “noble, highborn”; gentle

Example Sentences

What makes "The Nanny" unique is the breath of fresh air brought by curly-haired, mini-skirted Fran, with her yenta mother and her senile yet groovy Romanian immigrant grandmother.

From Salon

A natural storyteller with a yenta’s love of mischief, Fierstein paints a vivid portrait of his youth in Bensonhurst, the neighborhood made famous by “The Honeymooners” and “Saturday Night Fever.”

From Los Angeles Times

I also liked that she was someone local with local connections who was just trying to be a yenta.

From New York Times

Most book scouts are literary yentas, hoping to make a match, having little control over the result.

From Los Angeles Times

Over time, it appears that “yenta” has come to stand for the character’s attributes, not unlike Dickens’s Scrooge, though with the opposite effect.

From New York Times