nudnik

[nood-nik]

noun

Slang.

1. a persistently dull, boring pest.

nudnik

/ ˈnʌdnɪk /

noun

1. informal,  an annoying or boring person

Word History and Origins

Origin of nudnik¹

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50; from Yiddish, equivalent to nud- base of nudyen ( nudge ² ) + -nik -nik

Word History and Origins

Origin of nudnik¹

C20: from Yiddish nudyen to bore + _-nik

Example Sentences

Tarantino has become a nudnik filmmaker, who grabs a viewer by the lapel and says—and says and says—what’s on his mind.

From The New Yorker

He never stupidly based gender in language alone—like all those nerdy post-structuralist nudniks who infest academe.

From Salon

Alice is a nudnik and a connoisseur and a troubled person.

From The New Yorker

Painted in glazes of vibrant, greenish yellow scrawled over a black surface are words like kibitzer and kvetcher; nudnik and nebbish.

From New York Times

The difference is that Knoxville's nudniks volunteer for the slaughter.

From Time