patzer
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of patzer
1955–60; probably < German Patzer bungler, equivalent to patz ( en ) to bungle (compare Austrian dialect Patzen stain, blot, patzen to make a stain) + -er -er 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I'm just a patzer, but I always enjoy looking at your chessboard illustration, trying to guess the next move.
From New York Times • Oct. 11, 2014
The picture often has the flashy moves of a chess patzer.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The yellow-tied patzer had come for beauty, but Ljubo had come for truth.
From Time Magazine Archive
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"Unheard melodies," murmured the yellow-tied patzer sitting near me.
From Time Magazine Archive
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A tall, gentle man with steel-rimmed glasses and a perpetual smile, Hartleb greeted everyone he met—champion or patzer, beginner or veteran, child or octogenarian—by bowing low and saying with deep reverence, “Master!”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.