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Glite Dictionary
Reform Jew

Reform Jew

1 5.5
A person who follows a modern, more liberal form of Judaism
  • noun
  • /rɪˈfɔrm dʒu/
translation icon : judío reformista
  • An ultra-Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn has vastly different views than a Reform Jew in the Upper East Side.

So, you know, I'm a Jewish atheist, like many secular and many Reformed Jews.

Examples

  • I am a dark-haired Reform Jew.

    Blog text (27)

  • It has been remarkable to observe how easily and quickly Reform Jews succumbed to the ideological and political agenda of Zionism, Israel, and the Israel lobby.

    Blog text (11)

  • Tommy was addressing a group of Reform Jews at a conference in Washington.

    Blog text (34)

  • I was raised as a Reform Jew and even had my Bar Mitzvah in Israel.

    Blog text (2)

  • Belinda, a Reform Jew, always laughed at that.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • One of the real dividing lines between them, Reformed Jews, they have female rabbis.

  • Active as vice president of the eastern seaboard region of Hadassah, Weil was a Reform Jew and Zionist who built bridges between many groups.

    Academic text (2003)

  • American Reform Jews went so far as to explicitly deny their nationhood, defining themselves as a religion stressing universal humanistic values that they held in common with Christians.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Tommy was addressing a group of Reform Jews at a conference in Washington.

  • I was raised as a Reform Jew and even had my Bar Mitzvah in Israel.

Synonyms

Jew
vsReform Jew
123 2.4

A person who follows the religion Judaism or has Jewish ancestors

belongs to a liberal branch that adapts practices and beliefs to modern values

How Traditional

Orthodox Jew
11 4.2
Reform Jew
1 5.5
secular
1 5.8

Surface Forms

Reform Jew singular
Reform Jews plural

Morphology

reform + Jew

The phrase is compositional: 'reform' (change toward improvement or modernization) modifies 'Jew', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a Jew associated with a reforming or liberal branch of Judaism. This modifier+noun denomination pattern is common cross-linguistically and does not require idiomatic knowledge of English, making the meaning accessible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Reform Jew comes from the word reform, meaning 'to change' or 'improve'. It began when some Jewish communities chose to change old religious practices to fit modern life, so a Reform Jew today is someone who keeps Jewish faith but adapts traditions to 'modern values'.