Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person of integrity and honor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative spelling of mentch.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a decent responsible person with admirable characteristics

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Yiddish, human being, mensch, from Middle High German, human being, from Old High German mennisco; see man- in Indo-European roots.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word mensch.

Examples

  • "These you term mensch, don't they require sleep?" she asked Haplo.

    Into the Labyrinth Hickman, Tracy 1993

  • These writers can all be described by the Yiddish word "mensch", it's in their makeup to give of themselves to help us guys coming up, and it's something that has made a big impression on me.

    The Dark, Dark World of Dave Zeltserman 2007

  • These writers can all be described by the Yiddish word "mensch", it's in their makeup to give of themselves to help us guys coming up, and it's something that has made a big impression on me.

    August 2007 2007

  • In that article, the suit contends, Burness described Danowski as a "mensch," a Yiddish word for a person of great integrity and honor that Pressler 's lawyers defined in their brief.

    Latest Articles Raleigh News 2010

  • In that article, the suit contends, Burness described Danowski as a "mensch," a Yiddish word for a person of great integrity and honor that Pressler 's lawyers defined in their brief.

    Latest Articles Raleigh News 2010

  • In that article, the suit contends, Burness described Danowski as a "mensch," a Yiddish word for a person of great integrity and honor that Pressler 's lawyers defined in their brief.

    Latest Articles Raleigh News 2010

  • The other, lesser races, whom we call mensch'the humans, elves, and dwarves-worshiped us as gods.

    The Hand of Chaos Hickman, Tracy 1993

  • These two races of gods hated and feared each other and each sought to rule over those they called mensch: humans, elves, and the dwarves.

    Into the Labyrinth Hickman, Tracy 1993

  • The evening of the event, Appelbaum told the crowd, "This man is a mensch," referring to the Yiddish word for an authentic human being, one of high integrity.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2010

  • The evening of the event, Appelbaum told the crowd, "This man is a mensch," referring to the Yiddish word for an authentic human being, one of high integrity.

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I'd be a hypcrite if, with a nickname like 'patiomensch,' this weren't in my Words list.

    April 25, 2007

  • In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into American English, although the use is still rare), mensch roughly means "a good person." A "mensch" is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague.

    _Wikipedia

    I free associate this word with Skipvia's word mounch because it sounds similar to me.

    Go to Public List: Free Association and join in the fun of free associating with Skipvia.

    February 4, 2008