kibitz

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To make small talk or idle chatter.
  2. To give unsolicited or unwanted advice or make unhelpful or idle comments, especially to someone playing a game.
  3. To watch a card or board game.

Pronunciation

/ˈkɪbɪts/ en-au-kibitz.ogg

Word forms

kibitz kibitzes kibitzing kibitzed kibbitz

Etymology

From Yiddish קיבעצן (kibetsn), cognate to German kiebitzen (“to look on”), from German Kiebitz (“lapwing”), from Middle High German gibiz (“plover”), imitative of its cry. Compare peewit.

Synonyms

Related words

armchair general

Derived words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.