ganef

• ganif, ganof, gonef, gonif, goniff, gannef, gonof, gonoff, gonoph, gonnof

From Yiddish גנבֿ (ganef), from Hebrew גנב (ganáv, “thief”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɑnəf/, /ˈɡɑnɪf/

ganef (plural ganefs or ganevim)

1. (slang, derogatory) A thief; a rascal or scoundrel.
   • 1914 [1892], Israel Zangwill, Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People‎^[1]:

     Right to the end of the street he dragged her, pursued by a hooting crowd. Then he stopped, worn out. "Will you give me that sixpence, you Ganef!"

   • 1922, Fannie Hurst, “Roulette”, in The Vertical City‎^[2]:

     Packed in airtight against the bite of the steely out-of-doors, most of the village of Vodna—except the children and the half-witted Shimsha, the ganef—huddled under its none-too-plentiful coverings that night and prayed and trembled.

   • 1999, Steve Stern, The Wedding Jester, Graywolf Press, page 86:

     The streets swarmed with hucksters, ganefs, and handkerchief girls who solicited in the shadows of buildings draped in black bunting.

   • 2011, Eric Dezenhall, The Devil Himself, St. Martin's Press (Thomas Dunne Books), page 12:

     I would love to have a little inside knowledge that my grandfather's friends took down a president, but the reality is an endless procession of desperate little ganefs—and most of them are very small—trying to stay one step ahead of cops in suits from Sy Syms.

• “ganef” in Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 7th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1963 (1967 printing), →OCLC.

• Fagen, Fegan