noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

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

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

2. 2
   (Yiddish) a woman who talks too much; a gossip unable to keep a secret; a woman who spreads rumors and scandal wordnet
3. 3
   (Yiddish) a vulgar shrew; a shallow coarse termagant wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

a tale-bearing animalbackseat driverbusybodybuttinskyeavesdroppergossip

Example

More examples

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish יענטע (yente).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.