nudnik

== English == === Alternative forms === noodnick, noodnik, nudnick === Etymology === From Yiddish נודניק (nudnik), from the root of נודיען (nudyen, “to bore”) + ־ניק (-nik, noun-forming suffix) (English -nik), both of Slavic origin. The root derives from Proto-Slavic *nùditi (“to compel”) and the noun *nùďa (“need, necessity”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *new- or *neh₂w- (“to lack, need; ? to perish”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) The suffix is from Proto-Slavic *-ьnikъ (forming agent nouns and objects). Compare Russian ну́дный (núdnyj, “tedious”), Ukrainian нудни́й (nudnýj, “boring”), Polish nudny (“boring”), Slovak nudný (“boring”), Old Church Slavonic ноудити (nuditi) or нѫдити (nǫditi, “to compel”), Hebrew נוּדְנִיק (“nag”). See also English need, and compare needy for the semantics. === Pronunciation === (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈnʊdnɪk/ Rhymes: -ʊdnɪk IPA(key): /ˈnʌdnɪk/ Rhymes: -ʌdnɪk === Noun === nudnik (plural nudniks) (US, colloquial, sometimes attributive) A person who is very annoying; a pest, a nag, a jerk. [from 20th c.] 1992, Richard Preston quoting Samuel Eilenberg, The New Yorker, 2 March, "The Mountains of Pi": He interrupts people, and he is not interested in anything except what concerns him and his brother. He is a nudnick! ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== nudzh, noodge, nudge === Anagrams === Dunkin, unkind