What does "zelig" mean?

An ordinary person who can change their appearance or behavior to suit their surroundings, especially one who is unexpectedly associated with important events or people.

What is a synonym for "zelig"?

Common synonyms include: chameleon.

Zelig

//ˈzɛlɪɡ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An ordinary person who can change their appearance or behavior to suit their surroundings, especially one who is unexpectedly associated with important events or people.
2
An unimportant person who appears at multiple important events.

Synonyms

All synonyms

chameleon

Etymology

From the surname of the character Leonard Zelig from the 1983 film Zelig who meets many famous people in the 1920s and 1930s and, apparently out of his desire to fit in and be liked, unwittingly takes on the characteristics of the strong personalities around him.

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