schlimazel

English

Etymology

Yiddish שלימזל (shlimazl), from Middle High German slim (“crooked”) and Hebrew מזל (mazzāl, “luck”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃləˈmɑːzəl/

Noun

schlimazel (plural schlimazels)

1. (colloquial, chiefly US) A chronically unlucky person.
   • 1962, Philip K. Dick, “The Man in the High Castle”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 46:

     I must have pressed two buttons at once, he decided; jammed the works and got this schlimazl’s eye view of reality.

   • 2024 May 16, “Who Wants 30,000 Used Teslas?”, in Intelligencer‎^[2], retrieved 2024-05-16:

     Hertz is an early contender for Wall Street’s schlimazel of the decade, the big unlucky lemon that just can’t seem to get anything right.

Alternative forms

• schlemazel, schlemozzle, schlimazl, shlimazel, shlimazl, shlemozzle

Related terms

• schlemiel, shemozzle

Translations

a chronically unlucky person

• Danish: ulykkesfugl c
• Dutch: pechvogel (nl), schlemiel (nl)
• German: Pechvogel (de) m
• Italian: sfigato (it) n
• Serbo-Croatian: баксуз n (baksuz)
• Spanish: gafe (es) m
• Yiddish: שלימזל m (shlimazl)