What Does “Verklempt” Mean?

• Verklempt (pronounced “fur-klempt”) means overcome with emotion, perhaps even choked or clenched by emotions.
• Verklempt is a Yiddish loanword.

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Verklempt Meaning

To be verklempt is to be overwhelmed by emotion. You might be able to discern that someone is verklempt if he is choking back tears, unable to speak, or clenched because of intense emotions.

Examples of Verklempt in a Sentence

Would you like to know how to use verklempt? Here are some examples. You may notice something peculiar about the last example!

“Off the stage, she has been a passionate advocate for issues like heart disease and women’s equality. I’m getting all verklempt just thinking about it,” the president said, making a joke in Yiddish, and citing the Saturday Night Live skit “Coffee Talk.”

People.com

Forgive me if I seem a little verklempt today. . .I just dropped the kids off for their last day of first grade.

Melissa Firman.com

She looks very ferklempt.

PlanetRuby.com

Did you notice that verklempt is spelled with an F in the last quote? Besides ferklempt, you might find the word spelled fahklempt or farklemt. Why so many variations? Well, verklempt was originally a Yiddish word. People unsure of how to spell it in English might have written their best guess.

How Do You Pronounce Verklempt?

According to the Yiddish Word Dictionary, verklempt is pronounced “fur-klempt.” If you would like to listen to a native speaker pronounce it, you can visit Forvo.com.

Verklempt looks a little different from a typical English word. That’s because it’s a loanword from Yiddish. If you are overwhelmed with emotion after learning this interesting word, you know what it’s like to be verklempt. Keep your ears open for other Yiddish words; it’s fascinating to learn how Yiddish has influenced English.

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