nudnik

Meaning

Noun

• A person who is very annoying; a pest, a nag, a jerk. (Also used attributively.)

Origin

• From Yiddish נודניק < root of נודיען + ־ניק (English -nik). Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *nuda < Proto-Indo-European *newti- ("need") < *new-.
• Compare Russian ну́дный ("tedious"), Ukrainian ну́дний ("tedious"), Polish nudny ("boring"), Slovak nudný ("boring"), Old Church Slavonic ноудити or нѫдити, Hebrew נוּדְנִיק ("[[nag#Verb").