Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

whammy

/ˈ(h)wæmi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.77 in modern English

Syllables
wham-my
IPA
/ˈ(h)wæmi/
19
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

a serious or devastating setback

noun

an evil spell; a curse or hex

noun

The vibrato system of an electric guitar, or just its lever (whammy bar)

Colloquial

Etymology

Etymology tree English wham Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English whammy From wham + -y.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈ(h)wæmi/
  • British English: /ˈ(h)wæmi/

Usage

Inflected Forms

whammies (plural) whammie (alternative)

Phrases

double whammy triple whammy whammy bar

Synonyms

hex jinx curse

Rhymes With

miami grammy sammy tammy sami tami amie cammy clammy ramey sammie tammie

Questions

How do you pronounce whammy?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈ(h)wæmi/.
What does whammy mean?
a serious or devastating setback
Where does whammy come from?
Etymology tree English wham Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English whammy From wham + -y.

How to pronounce whammy

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “whammy”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈ(h)wæmi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “whammy”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “whammy” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.