See luftmensch in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{ "etymology_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "yi", "3": "לופֿטמענטש" }, "expansion": "Yiddish לופֿטמענטש (luftmentsh)", "name": "bor" }, { "args": { "1": "de", "2": "von Luft und Liebe leben", "lit": "to live on air and love", "t": "to disregard the practical matters of life" }, "expansion": "German von Luft und Liebe leben (“to disregard the practical matters of life”, literally “to live on air and love”)", "name": "cog" }, { "args": { "1": "de", "2": "Luftikus", "t": "impractical, quixotic, or careless person" }, "expansion": "German Luftikus (“impractical, quixotic, or careless person”)", "name": "cog" } ], "etymology_text": "From Yiddish לופֿטמענטש (luftmentsh), from לופֿט (luft, “air”) + מענטש (mentsh, “person”). Compare German von Luft und Liebe leben (“to disregard the practical matters of life”, literally “to live on air and love”), German Luftikus (“impractical, quixotic, or careless person”).\nThe word first appeared in Yiddish literature in 1860s (Nicolas Vallois, \"The Luftmentsh as an economic metaphor for Jewish poverty: a rhetorical analysis\").", "forms": [ { "form": "luftmenschen", "tags": [ "plural" ] } ], "head_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "luftmenschen" }, "expansion": "luftmensch (plural luftmenschen)", "name": "en-noun" } ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "noun", "senses": [ { "categories": [ { "_dis": "92 8", "kind": "other", "name": "English entries with incorrect language header", "parents": [ "Entries with incorrect language header", "Entry maintenance" ], "source": "w+disamb" }, { "_dis": "90 10", "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with 1 entry", "parents": [], "source": "w+disamb" }, { "_dis": "91 9", "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with entries", "parents": [], "source": "w+disamb" } ], "examples": [ { "text": "My wife is such a luftmensch she missed our anniversary dinner because she was too busy reading her books!", "type": "example" }, { "ref": "March 24, 2007, Helen McLean, “Marc of Distinction”, in The Globe and Mail, Books, page D6:", "text": "Chagall was a luftmensch, he says, a man of the air...", "type": "quote" } ], "glosses": [ "One more concerned with airy intellectual pursuits than practical matters like earning an income." ], "id": "en-luftmensch-en-noun-axJ30Odu" }, { "glosses": [ "a beggar, petty trader, peddler, and various types of paupers" ], "id": "en-luftmensch-en-noun-lYyXB-7G", "qualifier": "Yiddish usage", "raw_glosses": [ "(Yiddish usage) a beggar, petty trader, peddler, and various types of paupers" ] } ], "word": "luftmensch" }
{ "categories": [ "English countable nouns", "English entries with incorrect language header", "English lemmas", "English nouns", "English nouns with irregular plurals", "English terms borrowed from Yiddish", "English terms derived from Yiddish", "Pages with 1 entry", "Pages with entries" ], "etymology_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "yi", "3": "לופֿטמענטש" }, "expansion": "Yiddish לופֿטמענטש (luftmentsh)", "name": "bor" }, { "args": { "1": "de", "2": "von Luft und Liebe leben", "lit": "to live on air and love", "t": "to disregard the practical matters of life" }, "expansion": "German von Luft und Liebe leben (“to disregard the practical matters of life”, literally “to live on air and love”)", "name": "cog" }, { "args": { "1": "de", "2": "Luftikus", "t": "impractical, quixotic, or careless person" }, "expansion": "German Luftikus (“impractical, quixotic, or careless person”)", "name": "cog" } ], "etymology_text": "From Yiddish לופֿטמענטש (luftmentsh), from לופֿט (luft, “air”) + מענטש (mentsh, “person”). Compare German von Luft und Liebe leben (“to disregard the practical matters of life”, literally “to live on air and love”), German Luftikus (“impractical, quixotic, or careless person”).\nThe word first appeared in Yiddish literature in 1860s (Nicolas Vallois, \"The Luftmentsh as an economic metaphor for Jewish poverty: a rhetorical analysis\").", "forms": [ { "form": "luftmenschen", "tags": [ "plural" ] } ], "head_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "luftmenschen" }, "expansion": "luftmensch (plural luftmenschen)", "name": "en-noun" } ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "noun", "senses": [ { "categories": [ "English terms with quotations", "English terms with usage examples" ], "examples": [ { "text": "My wife is such a luftmensch she missed our anniversary dinner because she was too busy reading her books!", "type": "example" }, { "ref": "March 24, 2007, Helen McLean, “Marc of Distinction”, in The Globe and Mail, Books, page D6:", "text": "Chagall was a luftmensch, he says, a man of the air...", "type": "quote" } ], "glosses": [ "One more concerned with airy intellectual pursuits than practical matters like earning an income." ] }, { "glosses": [ "a beggar, petty trader, peddler, and various types of paupers" ], "qualifier": "Yiddish usage", "raw_glosses": [ "(Yiddish usage) a beggar, petty trader, peddler, and various types of paupers" ] } ], "word": "luftmensch" }
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (db0bec0 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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