MITNAGGEDIM (lit. "opponents"):

By: Joseph Jacobs, Peter Wiernik

Title applied by the Ḥasidim to their opponents, i.e., to the Orthodox Jews of the Slavonic countries who have not become adherents of Ḥasidism (see Jew. Encyc. vi. 254, s.v. Ḥasidim). The latter have in course of time accepted that title, and "mitnagged" now means not necessarily an active or even a passive opponent of Ḥasidism, but simply a non-Ḥasid. An alternative title for "mitnagged" is "'Olam'sher Yid" (= "Jew of the world"), not in the sense of being worldly, but meaning one who belongs to the great mass of the Jews of the world who are not Ḥasidim.

J. P. Wi.