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''bupkis'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260915190852-00-⌔

bupkis - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

bupkis (uncountable)

  • (US, slang) Absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.
    • ✤ Synonyms: zilch; see also Thesaurus: nothing
    • ✤ We searched for hours and found bupkis.
    • ✤ But we did nothing, absolutely bupkis that day/And I say, what the hell am I doing drinking in L.A. at 26?1
    • ✤ She answered her own question. “Without the connection to other people,” she said, “you have bupkis.”2

Etymology

Borrowed prior to 1931 from Yiddish באָבקעס (bobkes), plural of באָבקע (bobke, “goat or sheep dropping”), from באָב (bob, “bean”) +‎ ־קע (-ke) calquing Polish bobek (“oval-shaped turd”), ultimately from Proto-Slavic ﹡bobъ (“bean, fava bean”). Popularized by American Jewish writer Sam Denoff in mid-1960s The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbʌp.kɪs/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (Yiddish-influenced) IPA: /ˈbɔp.kɪs/

Printed 2026-09-15.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1997, “Drinking in L.A.”, performed by Bran Van 3000: ↩

  2. 2022 April 20, John Leland, quoting Robin Solod, “How Loneliness Is Damaging Our Health”, in The New York Times ‎, →ISSN: ↩