zhoosh
Meanings
Plural: zhooshes
Verb
- To tweak, finesse or improve (something); to make more appealing or exciting. Usually with up.
- To blend ingredients together using an electric food mixer.
Adj
- stylish, hot, cool
Noun
- Style, glamor (especially in regard to clothing).
- The action of mixing ingredients using an electric food mixer; a pulse of mixing.
Origin / Etymology
UK 1960s. Unclear origin; one explanation is that it was borrowed from Angloromani yuser (“clean”, verb) and yusher (“clear”, verb), from Angloromani yus-, yuz-, yuzh- (“clean”) and yush- (“clear”), from Romani žuž-, už- (“clean”, adjective) (also compare Hindi उज्ज्वल (ujjval, “bright”)), but this has been seen as problematic. Another theory is that the term is instead an "expressive formation" similar to whoosh and swish. The South African sense reportedly comes from a regional pronunciation of "Jewish", alluding to the high reputation of Jewish tailors at the time, but this has also been considered unlikely. All senses originated around the same time, with the first attributed use of the noun in 1968 and the verb in 1970.
Synonyms
a la mode/à la mode, all the rage, blitz, chic, cool, dapper, dash, done, elegant, fashionable, flamboyance, groovy, happening, hep, hip, in, in fashion, jaunty, modish, natty, on fleek, on trend, panache, pizazzy, smart, snazzy, spice, spiffing, spiffy, spruce, styleworthy, stylish, swagger, sweeten, tasteful, tippy, trendy, up-to-the-minute, verve, voguish, with-it, zhoosh, à la mode
Scrabble Score: 0
zhoosh is not valid in Scrabble (US) TWL Dictionaryzhoosh is not valid in Scrabble (MW) Merriam-Webster Dictionary
zhoosh is not valid in International Collins CSW Dictionary