verklempt
/fɚˈklɛm(p)t/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.28 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Ferklempt Without You—Very pretty, sexy, fun, active, Jewish, 35, ad exec seeks handsome, funny guy for love and happiness. It'll be like buttah!"
- "I've grown very tired of everyone saying freedom isn't free. The reason is, well, it's because I don't know where it came from and quite frankly, I think that some guy named Sal could be responsible, like maybe he started the whole thing after one too many beers at a picnic a few years back and all of a sudden it's become our unofficial national freedom slogan and it's in our songs and on our bumper stickers and tee shirts and it causes us all to get a little verklempt, like we're supposed to somehow get it if we say it."
- "Aunt Tilly had told her of our tradition, and it made me split between farklempt, and being overwhelmed with delight."
- ""Hey Dad," says Ray [in the film Field of Dreams]. "You wanna have a catch?" / We're welling up at this point. / "I'd like that," says John, as the music nears crescendo. / Ray picks up his glove, and we're totally verklempt. Searching for Kleenex in the pocket."
- "Oh like you, I got all farklempt when I watched her [Michelle Obama] in that dazzling one-shouldered gown dancing cheek-to-cheek with President [Barack] Obama."
- "I was silent, perhaps even verklempt. I hugged Gerry and kissed him. We all know how I get when I am the least bit emotional and soon Gerry and I were sliding down the slippery slope toward making out like teenagers, […]"
Etymology
Borrowed from Yiddish פֿאַרקלעמט (farklemt, “depressed, distraught; choked up”). The English spelling was influenced by the German prefix ver- corresponding to Yiddish פֿאַר־ (far-). German verklemmt (“uptight”, literally “jammed”) is formally cognate, but semantically unrelated; a closer match is beklommen (“anxious, despondent”). Popularized by a 1990s sketch comedy series.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *gleybʰ-, פֿאַרקלעמט, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fɚˈklɛm(p)t/
- British English: /fəˈklɛm(p)t/
Usage
- American usage
- Colloquial
Inflected Forms
more verklempt (comparative)
most verklempt (superlative)
faclempt (alternative)
faklempt (alternative)
farklempt (alternative)
ferklempt (alternative)
verklemmt (alternative)