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putz

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putz¹

  • /pʌts/

Rhymes with -ʌts

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Yiddish פּאָץ (pots, “penis, fool”); compare similar semantic developments in futz.

noun putzes

  1. derogatory, slang A fool, an idiot. “The excitement of our friendship made me overlook my vampire powers.” “Hi.” “My foreskin grew back very fast. Now he thinks I'm meshuggener, which means he thinks I'm a little bit of a putz.”
  2. derogatory, slang A jerk. And, (4), we’re not really even seeing “characters” at all: it’s not Major Frank Burns, pathetic self-important putz from Fort Wayne, Indiana; it’s Larry Linville of Ojai, California, actor stoic enough to endure thousands of letters (still coming in, even in syndication) from pseudo-voyeurs beratin

    Similar: schmuck

  3. slang The penis.

    Similar: schmuck

verb putzes · putzing · putzed

  1. intransitive, slang To waste time. Stop putzing around.

    Similar: futz, putter, yutz

putz²

  • /pʊts/

Rhymes with -ʊts

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Pennsylvania German Putz; compare German Putz (“ornament, decoration, finery”), putzen (“to clean; decorate”). Compare the above.

noun putzes · Putz

  1. slang A decoration or ornament in the Nativity tradition, usually placed under a Christmas tree. The American custom of erecting a putz seems to have originated with the Moravians but the custom long ago spread to non-Moravian households. Essentially, the putz is a landscape, built on the floor or on a table or portable platform.

verb putzes · putzing · putzed · Putz

  1. Pennsylvania, US, intransitive, slang To go around viewing the putzes in the neighborhood. Once all good Moravians in Bethlehem went putzing between Christmas and Twelfth Night to take a look at their friends' cribs.

Putz³

Where it comes from

Borrowed from German Putz or Pütz.

proper noun Putzes

  1. A surname from German.

Translations

Every language

noun fool

Españoltaba, gil, gila, gilí, metepatas, mala pata

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Cite this
MLA

"putz." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/putz. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

putz. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/putz

Chicago

"putz." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/putz.

BibTeX
@misc{putz_2026,
  title = {putz},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/putz},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}