plural goyim ˈgȯi-əm 
also goys
also goys
sometimes disparaging
: a non-Jewish person : gentile sense 1
Our rabbi … used to tell us not to let the goyim, those people outside the invisible wall, know if we had any differences among ourselves.—
Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
… what we Jews call Torah and goys call the Old Testament …—Robert Little
Robert Little
goyish
adjective sometimes disparaging
Jewish or goyish was the grand bifurcation of the universe. If, on rare occasion, my parent uttered a sentence that did not contain the word "Jewish," odds were it contained "goyish" instead. —Aaron Lansky
Aaron Lansky
"What kind of a name is Rosemary?" asked one of the girls … "It is a goyish name … Do you mean to say your best friend is not a Jew?" —Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen
goyishness noun sometimes disparaging
Renee is a lapsed Orthodox Jew trying to embrace the life of the mind amid the "genteel goyishness" of Princeton. —Frances Taliaferro
Frances Taliaferro
Word History
Etymology
Yiddish, from Hebrew gōy people, nation
First Known Use
1841, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near goy
Cite this Entry
“Goy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goy. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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