jinx

[jingks]

verb (used with object)

1. to bring bad luck to; curse.

   According to tradition, wishing an actor “good luck” before a show will jinx their performance.

   That place on the corner seems jinxed—no business ever stays there for long.

2. to destroy the point of.

   His sudden laugh jinxed the host's joke.

noun

1. a person, thing, or influence supposed to bring bad luck.

   They said I was a jinx, because every time I came to see them play, they lost.

interjection

1. (used after two people say exactly the same thing at exactly the same time).

   I’ll drive—jinx! Great minds think alike!

jinx

/ dʒɪŋks /

noun

1. an unlucky or malevolent force, person, or thing

verb

1. (tr) to be or put a jinx on

Other Word Forms

• outjinx verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of jinx¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1910–15; perhaps from Latin jynx “wryneck” (bird used in divination and magic), from Greek íynx, perhaps from or akin to iýzein “to shout, yell”

Word History and Origins

Origin of jinx¹

C20: perhaps from New Latin Jynx genus name of the wryneck, from Greek iunx wryneck, the name of a bird used in magic

Example Sentences

Not content with jinxing the Dodgers by predicting a potential “120-win season,” local sports seer Bill Plaschke now projects the Rams to be in the Super Bowl.

From Los Angeles Times

Perhaps it was a jinx, but a little more than eight months later, the Gallagher brothers would call it quits on August 22, 2009, at the V Festival in Weston Park, England.

From Los Angeles Times

Careful not to jinx his momentum, he is only willing to admit this is "definitely the best first half of a season I've had in a long time", speaking to BBC Sport.

From BBC

"I don't want to jinx it, but it has been sunny every single year," she says.

From BBC

Could this be the season he ends the jinx?

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• hex