abominable snowman

First attested in 1921. Calque of Tibetan མི་སྡུག་གངས་མི (mi sdug gangs mi), from མི་སྡུག (mi sdug, “repulsive, unlovely, ugly, hideous”) and གངས་མི (gangs mi, “snowman”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɑm.ə.nə.bl̩ ˈsnoʊ.mæn/, /əˈbɑm.nə.bl̩ ˈsnoʊ.mæn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

abominable snowman (plural abominable snowmen)

1. (cryptozoology, often capitalized) A humanoid or apelike animal said to exist in the Himalayas.
   • 2003, Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake, Virago Press (2013), page 8:

     The Abominable Snowman – existing and not existing, flickering at the edges of blizzards, apelike man or manlike ape, stealthy, elusive, known only through rumours and through its backward-pointing footprints.

• yeti

• Bigfoot
• menk
• sasquatch
• yeti
• yowie