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
My father was born in a shtetl outside Kyiv — didn’t speak Russian, spoke Yiddish.
—
Mikael Wood,
Los Angeles Times,
2 July 2026
Chroniclers of the shtetl in Yiddish literature, such as Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916) and Mendele Moykher Sforim (1835–1917), constructed fictional depictions of the shtetl.
—
Jordana Rosenfeld,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
5 June 2026
My Blankfein ancestors were Yiddish-speaking Jews who emigrated in the 1880s from a shtetl that was then in Russia and is now part of Poland.
—
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
Michtom was born Moshe Charmatz, in a shtetl in what is now Belarus.
—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shtetl
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Mikael Wood,
Los Angeles Times,
2 July 2026
Chroniclers of the shtetl in Yiddish literature, such as Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916) and Mendele Moykher Sforim (1835–1917), constructed fictional depictions of the shtetl.
—
Jordana Rosenfeld,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
5 June 2026
My Blankfein ancestors were Yiddish-speaking Jews who emigrated in the 1880s from a shtetl that was then in Russia and is now part of Poland.
—
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
Michtom was born Moshe Charmatz, in a shtetl in what is now Belarus.
—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shtetl
Cite this Entry
“Shtetl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shtetl. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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