Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

schlimazel

/ʃləˈmɑːzəl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: schli-mazel
IPA: /ʃləˈmɑːzəl/

26

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A chronically unlucky person.

American usage; Colloquial

Example Sentences

"I must have pressed two buttons at once, he decided; jammed the works and got this schlimazl’s eye view of reality."
"On Jewish Heritage Day, there was ample time to debate whether the Mets are schlemiels or schlimazels with the home team down 8-1 after five. Fans were given shirts that read “Let’s Go Mets” in Hebrew, but “Oy vey!” was more appropriate."
"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."

Etymology

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

Usage

American usage
Colloquial

Inflected Forms

schlimazels (plural) schlemazel (alternative) schlemozzle (alternative) schlimazl (alternative) shlimazel (alternative) shlimazl (alternative) shlemozzle (alternative)

Frequently Paired Words

schlemiel shemozzle

Synonyms

shlimazel

Questions

How do you pronounce schlimazel?: The recorded pronunciation is /ʃləˈmɑːzəl/.
What does schlimazel mean?: A chronically unlucky person.
Where does schlimazel come from?: Borrowed from Yiddish שלימזל (shlimazl), from Middle High German slim (“crooked”) and Hebrew מזל (mazzāl, “luck”)

How to pronounce schlimazel

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “schlimazel”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ʃləˈmɑːzəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “schlimazel” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.