putz

Noun (1)

putz (plural putzes)

1. (derogatory, slang) A fool, an idiot.
   • “The excitement of our friendship made me overlook my vampire powers.” “Hi.” “My foreskin grew back very fast. Now he thinks I'm meshuggener, which means he thinks I'm a little bit of a putz.”2023 July 27, Max Brockman & Shana Gohd, “The Campaign” (19:12 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 4, spoken by Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak)
2. (derogatory, slang) A jerk.
   • And, (4), we’re not really even seeing “characters” at all: it’s not Major Frank Burns, pathetic self-important putz from Fort Wayne, Indiana; it’s Larry Linville of Ojai, California, actor stoic enough to endure thousands of letters (still coming in, even in syndication) from pseudo-voyeurs...1997, David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group

   Synonyms:

   schmuck

3. (slang) The penis.

   Synonyms:

   schmuck

Verb (1)

putz (third-person singular simple present putzes, present participle putzing, simple past and past participle putzed)

1. (intransitive, slang) To waste time.
   • Stop putzing around.

   Synonyms:

   futz, putter, yutz

Noun (2)

IPA/pʊts/

putz (plural putzes)

1. (slang) A decoration or ornament in the Nativity tradition, usually placed under a Christmas tree.
   • The American custom of erecting a putz seems to have originated with the Moravians but the custom long ago spread to non-Moravian households. Essentially, the putz is a landscape, built on the floor or on a table or portable platform.1995, Joe L. Wheeler, Christmas in My Heart, Book 4, pages 12-13

Verb (2)

IPA/pʊts/

putz (third-person singular simple present putzes, present participle putzing, simple past and past participle putzed)

1. (Pennsylvania, US, intransitive, slang) To go around viewing the putzes in the neighborhood.
   • Once all good Moravians in Bethlehem went putzing between Christmas and Twelfth Night to take a look at their friends' cribs.1947, Holiday - Volume 2, Issues 1-6, page 86
   • Everyone in the Moravian settlements goes putzing, visiting others' works of art.1978, Mildred Jordan, The Distelfink Country of the Pennsylvania Dutch, page 141

Proper noun capitalized: Putz

Putz (plural Putzes)

1. A surname from German.