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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

goy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Etymology tree Biblical Hebrew גּוֹי (goi)bor. Yiddish גוי (goy)bor. English goy Borrowed from Yiddish גוי (goy, “gentile”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew גּוֹי (goi, “nation”). The term goy does not technically refer to non-Jews, but rather to a nation per se; the Jews are said to constitute a goy. But through common usage – namely referring to "the [other non-Jewish] nations" – the word came to colloquially refer to non-Jews.

Meanings

  1. (offensive, sometimes) A non-Jew; a gentile.
    • I don’t think that marriage is working, but I’m not going to be stupid about it and say she shouldn’t have married a goy. 1988, Anthony Burgess, Any Old Iron:
  2. (derogatory) Synonym of shabbos goy (“a gentile thought to be subservient to Jewish people”)
  3. (Internet, broadly) A mindless consumer of low-quality entertainment and products ("goyslop"); a consoomer.
    • Look at the quotes. There are people spending tens of thousands on Foodpanda monthly. Peak Goy behavior. 2026 June 25, @masatmithizaat, X (post), archived from the original on 28 Aug 2026:
    • Near-synonym: NPC
    • Look at the slop the average person consumes. […] I think it's trite to say that the average person is a goy with no soul, but I don't know. 2026 July 31, contramode [Ian Byington], Instagram:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
goi alternative lexicographic
Goi alternative lexicographic
goyin Number=Plur lexicographic
goyem Number=Plur lexicographic
Goy alternative lexicographic
goyim Number=Plur lexicographic
goys Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

goybait · goysplain · goybeam · goyishkeit · shabbos goy · goycattle · antigoyism · goyish · anti-goyish · goyishness · anti-goy · goytard · groyper · goynip · goybuck · goymobile · goyball · goyslop

Descendants

goy · ゴイ

Relateds

goyishkeit · goyazite

Synonyms

shkotz · non-Jew · shegetz · akum · NPC · shabbos goy · gentile

Translations (28)

hi गोय (non-Jew) · cs gój (non-Jew) · ru гой (non-Jew) · pt gói (non-Jew) · hu gój (non-Jew) · eo gojo (non-Jew) · fr goy (non-Jew) · ar أَغْيَار (non-Jew) · nl goj (non-Jew) · fr goï (non-Jew) · it Goy (non-Jew) · nl niet-Jood (non-Jew) · eo nejudo (non-Jew) · da ikke-jøde (non-Jew) · sv goj (non-Jew) · es goy (non-Jew) · ja ゴイ (non-Jew) · ca Goy (non-Jew) · de Nichtjude (non-Jew) · de Goi (non-Jew) · pt goy (non-Jew) · fa گوی (non-Jew) · uk гой (non-Jew) · yi גוי (non-Jew) · he גּוֹי (non-Jew) · sq jo-hebre (non-Jew) · ar جُوي (non-Jew) · pl Goj (non-Jew)