nudnik

Etymology

noodnik is attested since 1925, nudnik since 1929. From Yiddish נודניק‎ (nudnik) < root of נודיען‎ (nudyen, “to bore”) + ־ניק‎ (-nik, “noun-forming suffix”). Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *nuda < Proto-Indo-European *neuti- (“need”) < *nau- (“death, to be exhausted”).

Compare Russian нудный (núdnyj, “tedious”), Ukrainian нудний (núdnýj, “tedious”), Polish nudny (“boring”), Old Church Slavonic ноудити (nuditi) or нѫдити (nǫditi, “to compell”), Hebrew נוּדְנִיק‎ (“nag”) and English -nik.

Noun

nudnik (plural nudniks)

1. A person who is very annoying; a persistent nag.
2. A bore; a boring person.
3. A pest of a person; a jerk.
   • 1992 March 2, Richard Preston quoting Samuel Eilenberg, The New Yorker, "The Mountains of Pi":

     In the academic world, we have to be careful who our colleagues are. David is a pain in the neck. He interrupts people, and he is not interested in anything except what concerns him and his brother. He is a nudnick!

Anagrams

• Dunkin, unkind