דווקא

Hebrew

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Aramaic דווקא (dawqā, “exactness”), through (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Yiddish דווקא (davke).

Adverb

דווקא / דַּוְקָא • (dávka)

1. (colloquial) unexpectedly
2. (colloquial) just to spite
3. (colloquial) specifically, precisely
4. (colloquial) in fact, actually

Usage notes

• When a negation directly precedes this word, Aramaic לָאו (lav) is typically used instead of the native Hebrew לֹא (lo), which is used when the negation is in any other position.

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Yiddish

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Aramaic דווקא.

Adverb

דווקא • (dafke)

1. necessarily
2. deliberately
3. precisely