-nik

In his book The American Language, first published in 1919, H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) credited the mania for adding "-nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns to Al Capp's American comic strip Li'l Abner (1934–1977) ^[4] rather than to the influence of "Sputnik", first recorded in 1957,^[5] or "beatnik", first recorded in 1958.^[6]

Vocabulary

Mainstream

Words of significant context or usage:

• Beatnik
• Chainik
• Refusenik
• Sputnik

Casual

Casual neologisms:

• Alrightnik: one who has been successful; nouveau riche
• Artnik, a UK publisher (defunct);^[7] the word predates its establishment
• Muttnik
  , the first dog in space
• Neatnik: a neat-freak
• Nogoodnik: a lazy, incompetent or malicious person
• Peacenik: a
  pacifist; a hippie
• Wordnik

Jewish adaptation

Words originally used by Jews of Europe, America, and Israel, often referring to concepts related to their experiences or things happening in Israel or among the Jewish people:

• Chabadnik or Habadnik: follower of
  Chabad
• Kadimanik: member of United Synagogue Youth's Kadima program
• Ka-tzetnik
  : a Nazi concentration camp prisoner or survivor, derived from abbreviation KZ, pronounced "Ka-tzet"
• Kibbutznik: member of a Kibbutz
• Lamedvavnik
• Likudnik: supporter of Israeli political party Likud
• Limmudnik: participant or attendee of Limmud events
• Mapainik: supporter of the historical Israeli labor party Mapai
• Moshavnik: member of a Moshav
• Mossadnik: Mossad agent
• Netzernik: Member of the Netzer Olami youth movement
• Nudnik: a nagging, boring or awkward person
• Shinuinik: supporter of Israeli political party Shinui

Slavic languages

Native or constructed Slavic words originating in Slavic-speaking environments:

There are quite a few proper nouns (surnames and place names) with this suffix.

See also

English terms suffixed with -nik

References

External links

Look up -nik in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "-nik". The Mavens' Word of the Day. Random House. June 1, 1998. Archived from the original on 2001-04-18.