bupkis
/ˈbʌp.kɪs/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Yiddish influenced/ˈbɔp.kɪs/
bupkis noun: absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.
Noun
bupkis (uncountable)
- Absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.
- 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?1997, “Drinking in L.A.”, performed by Bran Van 3000
- Synonyms:
- zilch
Synonyms of bupkis
Forms of bupkis
| alternative form | bobkes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | bobkis |
| alternative form | bopkes |
| alternative form | bopkus |
| alternative form | bubkes |
| alternative form | bubkess |
| alternative form | bubkis |
| alternative form | bubkiss |
| alternative form | bumpkiss |
| alternative form | bupkas |
| alternative form | bupkass |
| alternative form | bupkes |
| alternative form | bupkiss |
| alternative form | bupkus |
Origin of bupkis
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.
Questions about bupkis
- What does bupkis mean?
- Bupkis means absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.
- What part of speech is bupkis?
- Bupkis is a noun.
- How do you pronounce bupkis?
- Bupkis is pronounced /ˈbʌp.kɪs/.
Words near bupkis in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bupkis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bupkiss.wav.
Cite this entry: “bupkis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bupkis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.