# Shiksa
**Shiksa** (Yiddish: שיקסע, *shikse*) is a Yiddish-derived English word for a non-Jewish girl or woman, used often in a disparaging way, and in Orthodox Jewish usage also for a Jewish woman who does not observe Jewish precepts[1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa). Its male counterpart is **sheygetz** (also spelled shegetz, shaygetz, or sheygets), a Yiddish word for a non-Jewish boy or man that can also describe a disrespectful or irreligious Jewish male[2](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/513).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Core meaning | A non-Jewish girl or woman; often disparaging[1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa) |
| Secondary meaning | A Jewish girl or woman who does not observe Jewish precepts, used especially by Orthodox Jews[1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa) |
| Etymology | Yiddish *shikse*, feminine of *sheygets* (non-Jewish boy), from Hebrew *sheqeṣ*, "blemish, abomination"[1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa) |
| First English attestation | 1892, in Israel Zangwill, per the Online Etymology Dictionary; Merriam-Webster dates first known use to 1872[3](https://www.etymonline.com/word/shiksa) • [1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa) |
| Male counterpart | Sheygetz (plural *shkotsim*), with senses including non-Jewish boy, disrespectful youth, and irreligious Jew[2](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/513) |
| Variant spellings | shikse, schickza, shikza, schikza[4](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/516) |
## Etymology
The word entered English through Yiddish, the Germanic language of [Ashkenazi Jews](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashkenazi-jews). The Yiddish feminine *shikse* is the female counterpart of *sheygets*, which derives from the Hebrew שֶׁקֶץ (*sheqeṣ*), a biblical term for an abomination or impure thing[1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa) • [2](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/513). The Hebrew root explains why the pair has distinct masculine and feminine forms: *sheygetz* is a Yiddish rendering of *sheqetz*, and *shiksa* is generally understood as its feminine form[5](https://www.scjfaq.org/faq/19-06.html).
The Online Etymology Dictionary dates the English word to 1892, attributing an early use to the Anglo-Jewish writer [Israel Zangwill](https://www.edgepedia.org/israel-zangwill) and tracing it through Yiddish *shikse* and Hebrew *siqsa* to *sheqes*, "a detested thing"[3](https://www.etymonline.com/word/shiksa). Merriam-Webster gives an earlier first known use, 1872[1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa).
## Meanings and register
Dictionaries label the word as often offensive or disparaging in its primary sense of a non-Jewish woman[6](https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=shiksa) • [1](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa). The Jewish English Lexicon lists three senses, all marked potentially offensive: a non-Jewish girl, a housemaid, and, in Orthodox usage, a non-religious or non-Orthodox Jewish girl[4](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/516). The maid sense also appears in South American usage[7](https://www.yiddishslangdictionary.com/word/197973/shikse).
The word's force varies with context. A Soc.Culture.Jewish FAQ notes that the derogatory sense lies in implying woman-as-temptation, and that Hebrew terms such as *nachriah* and *goyah* exist for non-Jewish women in less judgmental situations[5](https://www.scjfaq.org/faq/19-06.html). A 1997 *Sh'ma* journal essay urged Jewish communities to avoid the "offensive and insulting" pair *shiksa* and *shaygetz*, which it glossed as literally meaning "abomination," particularly because Jews-by-choice do not see themselves as "former shiksas"[8](https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/shma/SHMA%2028-544%20DECEMBER%2026%201997.pdf). The Jewish English Lexicon notes that some attempts have been made to reappropriate the word in recent years[4](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/516).
## The shiksa in American popular culture
In the United States the word became attached to a recognizable cultural figure: the blonde, attractive non-Jewish woman idealized as the object of Jewish men's desire. A [University of Edinburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-edinburgh) teaching resource on *When Harry Met Sally* describes the cinematic Jew as defined partly by "his sexual preference for shiksas, Yiddish for a non-Jewish woman bearing derogatory connotations that objectify and sexualize her, preferably blonde," and observes that although endogamy (marrying only within one's own group) is a cornerstone of Jewish tradition, Jewish men in film before about 1990 typically gravitated toward the archetypal blonde shiksa rather than coupling with Jewish women[9](https://jnjr.div.ed.ac.uk/primary-sources/contemporary/jewish-christian-relations-on-film-when-harry-met-sally-1989/).
The trope runs through a century of stage and screen. [Philip Roth](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-roth)'s *Portnoy's Complaint* (1969) is described by the *Los Angeles Review of Books* as "the sacred text" for the relationship between Jewish boys and shiksas, and in [Yiddish literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/yiddish-literature), where intermarriage was culturally and legally impossible, the shiksa figured as a symbol of temptation[10](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/anti-non-semitism-an-investigation-of-the-shiksa). [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s *Annie Hall* and Elaine May's *The Heartbreak Kid* both stage the pattern of a Jewish man leaving or rejecting a Jewish woman for a non-Jewish one[11](https://time.com/7023404/nobody-wants-this-netflix-jewish-women/). The word also appears in lighter registers: "Shiksa Goddess" is a song from the musical *The Last Five Years*, and the term has been called derisive toward Jewish and non-Jewish women alike[12](https://forward.com/culture/theater/708763/nick-jonas-shiksa-goddess-the-last-five-years/).
The 2024 Netflix romantic comedy *Nobody Wants This*, about a Reform rabbi dating a non-Jewish podcaster, renewed public discussion of the word. Critics noted the show's frequent use of "shiksa" for the character Joanne and its one-dimensional portrayal of Jewish women; the word is noticeably absent from the show's second season[13](https://apnews.com/article/f574958ba9d1b016c36496e7ee0181bf) • [11](https://time.com/7023404/nobody-wants-this-netflix-jewish-women/).
## Intermarriage context
The word's cultural weight reflects the long history of Jewish concern with intermarriage. The plot of a Jewish man dating or marrying a non-Jewish woman has been a trope of stage and screen for 100 years, according to a scholar of American Judaism cited by PBS[14](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/in-nobody-wants-this-century-old-rom-com-tropes-get-a-new-twist-the-cute-rabbi). Institutional positions have shifted: in 2024 [Reform Judaism](https://www.edgepedia.org/reform-judaism), the largest Jewish movement in the United States, decided to allow students with non-Jewish partners into rabbinical school, while Conservative and Orthodox rabbis remain barred from marrying a non-Jewish spouse, and the Conservative movement reiterated in 2023 that its rabbis cannot perform interfaith marriages[14](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/in-nobody-wants-this-century-old-rom-com-tropes-get-a-new-twist-the-cute-rabbi).
## References
1. [Shiksa, Merriam-Webster Dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shiksa)
2. [Sheygets, Jewish English Lexicon](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/513)
3. [Etymology of shiksa, Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/word/shiksa)
4. [Shiksa, Jewish English Lexicon](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/516)
5. [What does "shiksa" and "shaygetz" mean? How offensive are they?, Soc.Culture.Jewish FAQ](https://www.scjfaq.org/faq/19-06.html)
6. [Shiksa, American Heritage Dictionary](https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=shiksa)
7. [Shikse, Yiddish Slang Dictionary](https://www.yiddishslangdictionary.com/word/197973/shikse)
8. [Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, December 26, 1997](https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/shma/SHMA%2028-544%20DECEMBER%2026%201997.pdf)
9. [Jewish-Christian Relations on Film: When Harry Met Sally (1989), University of Edinburgh](https://jnjr.div.ed.ac.uk/primary-sources/contemporary/jewish-christian-relations-on-film-when-harry-met-sally-1989/)
10. [Anti-non-Semitism: An Investigation of the Shiksa, Los Angeles Review of Books](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/anti-non-semitism-an-investigation-of-the-shiksa)
11. [Nobody Wants This and the depiction of Jewish women, Time](https://time.com/7023404/nobody-wants-this-netflix-jewish-women/)
12. [Nick Jonas should not sing 'Shiksa Goddess', The Forward](https://forward.com/culture/theater/708763/nick-jonas-shiksa-goddess-the-last-five-years/)
13. ['Nobody Wants This' evolves in Season 2, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/f574958ba9d1b016c36496e7ee0181bf)
14. [In 'Nobody Wants This,' century-old rom-com tropes get a new twist, PBS NewsHour](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/in-nobody-wants-this-century-old-rom-com-tropes-get-a-new-twist-the-cute-rabbi)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Names and onomastics › Jewish and Hebrew naming traditions*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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