noun
or cha·sid or has·sid or chas·sid ˈhasə̇d, ˈḵäs-
( plural ha·sid·im or has·sid·im ˈhasədə̇m, ḵəˈsēd-)
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Hebrew ḥāsīdh pious, one who is pious (plural ḥăsīdhīm )
1. : a member of a pious Jewish sect founded about the 3d century B.C. by opponents of Hellenistic innovations and devoted to the strict observance of the ritual of purification and separation — called also assidean
2. : a member of a Jewish sect devoted to mysticism and opposed to secular studies and Jewish rationalism that was founded in Poland about 1750 by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer to revive the strict practices of the earlier Hasidim
• ha·sid·ic or cha·sid·ic or has·sid·ic or chas·sid·ic həˈsidik, ḵəˈ- adjective , usually capitalized