chutzpah
/ˈxʊts.pə/ noun
Forms chutzpahs hutzpah khutzpah khutspah chutspa chutspah chutzpa khutspe
- noun (informal) Nearly arrogant courage; utter audacity, effrontery or impudence; supreme self-confidence; exaggerated self-opinion.
Synonyms
balls cheek gall nerve boldness audacity insolence chutzpa hutzpah
Etymology
Originated c. 1890–95 from Yiddish חוצפּה (khutspe), which was either borrowed via Medieval Hebrew or directly came from Aramaic חוּצְפָּא (ḥuṣpā, “audacity, boldness”), derived from חֲצַף (ḥăṣap̄, “to be impudent, arrogant”).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “chutzpah”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details