whammy

[ wam-ee, hwam-ee ]

noun

, Informal.

, plural wham·mies.

1. a devastating blow, setback, or catastrophe:

   The drought and the high price of fertilizer are a double whammy to farmers.

   The big whammy will be the coming update, which could make our software nonfunctional.

2. bad luck or misfortune.
3. Often the wham·my. the evil eye; jinx.

whammy

/ ˈwæmɪ /

noun

1. something which has great, often negative, impact

   the double whammy of high interest rates and low wage increases

2. an evil spell or curse

   she was convinced he had put the whammy on her

Word History and Origins

Origin of whammy¹

First recorded in 1935–40; wham + -y ², after a method of jinxing someone by striking the fist into the palm

Word History and Origins

Origin of whammy¹

C20: wham + -y ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put the whammy on, Informal.
   1. to give the evil eye to; jinx.
   2. to destroy, end, or eradicate:

      New controls will put the whammy on irresponsible spending.

Example Sentences

In a one-two punch, a malaria vaccine in development pairs a shot of the live parasite that causes the disease with a whammy of infection-fighting drugs to immediately quell it.

From Science News

Nepal is facing a double whammy of disastrous infection rates and depleting vaccine stocks.

From Time

California’s kelp forests, which provide a rich habitat for marine organisms, got hit by a double whammy of ecological disasters in the past decade, says UC Santa Cruz ecologist Mark Carr.

From Science News

This week, I was dealing with the double whammy of having just returned home after some time away to a mostly empty fridge.

From Eater

I love being able to sing for my job and it’s my passion too, so it’s a double whammy.

From Ozy

Who can forget in 2012 the double whammy of GOP Senate candidates comments about rape?

From The Daily Beast

“The double whammy of those two set me on a course of thinking about issues I had never done before,” Sherwood told the Times.

From The Daily Beast

For stores like Walmart, which sells groceries and other goods to the same customers, the food-stamp cut will be a double-whammy.

From The Daily Beast

Why new cuts will be a double whammy for Bentonville—and anyone with a mutual fund.

From The Daily Beast

This “double whammy” of predation and competition enables jellyfish to cripple a food chain by essentially nibbling at its ankles.

From The Daily Beast

This time they ain't none of them screwy Venusians to put the whammy on him, and he's doing okay.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hex