Mensch (Yiddish מענטש; also mentsch, mentsh, mensh, or mench, plural: mentschen, German plural: Menschen) is a
German noun meaning a "
human".In
Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into
American English), mensch roughly means "a good person." A "mensch" is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague. According to
author and
Yiddish popularist
Leo Rosten, [A] mensch is someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being "a real mensch" is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous. (Rosten, Leo. 1968.
The Joys of Yiddish. New York: Pocket Books. 237) Mentschlekhkeyt (Yiddish: מענטשלעכקייט) are the properties which make one a mensch.
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nm - human being (pl. Mënschen)