SCHLIMAZEL Definition & Meaning

schlimazel

or ��·��·��

[ shli-mah-zuhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Slang.

an inept, bungling person who suffers from unremitting bad luck:
That poor schlimazel failed the driver's test for the fourth time—if he's lucky enough to ever get his license, his car will probably die.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of schlimazel¹

First recorded in 1945–50; from Yiddish, from shlim “bad, evil” (compare German schlimm “bad, evil, wrong”) + mazl “luck” (from Hebrew �� “constellation, destiny, luck”; mazel tov ( def ) )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Ms. Williams and Marshall’s chant of “schlemiel, schlimazel” as they skipped together became a cultural phenomenon and oft-invoked piece of nostalgia.

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In Yiddish, is he a schlemiel or a a schlimazel, eh?

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“Unlike Menashe in the film, I’m not a schlimazel by nature. Maybe just a schlimazel by situation.”

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Herzog is a comic figure, a holy fool, a schlimazel with a Ph.D.

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