variants
or less commonly shtetel
plural shtetlach
ˈshtet-ˌläḵ 
ˈshtāt-
also shtetels
: a small Jewish town or village formerly found in Eastern Europe
Examples of shtetl in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Its center was not the nostalgia of the shtetl but the mysterious resonance of a more ancient landscape.
—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
Like many Jewish playwrights of the period, Miller, barely a generation away from a Polish shtetl himself, erased the Jews if not the Jewishness from almost all his reputational works.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
Although my mother was born in a tiny shtetl on the outskirts of Kyiv, this was my first visit there.
—Byjeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023
Their mother remained in the shtetl, and Mr. Jaffee never saw her again.
—Ali Bahrampour, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for shtetl 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
Like many Jewish playwrights of the period, Miller, barely a generation away from a Polish shtetl himself, erased the Jews if not the Jewishness from almost all his reputational works.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
Although my mother was born in a tiny shtetl on the outskirts of Kyiv, this was my first visit there.
—Byjeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023
Their mother remained in the shtetl, and Mr. Jaffee never saw her again.
—Ali Bahrampour, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for shtetl
Dictionary Entries Near shtetl
Cite this Entry
“Shtetl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shtetl. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share