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

"I don't want to jinx it, but I feel like it's gone very, very well," says Ricky.

Read more on BBC

“I don’t want to jinx it,” said Seckeita Lewis, who was flying Friday from San Francisco to Dallas on American Airlines.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Because of that, I don't want to jinx the Black Cats by saying they will win... but it is also hard to make a case for Everton getting anything.

Read more on BBC

Thompson has plans to produce something for DaCosta, a TV adaptation of a book, but is still in the process of finalizing the rights and is reluctant to jinx it by saying the title.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

With Frankenstein, he worries he’ll jinx the monster by talking too much about him, snuffing out the ineffable thing that he says fueled his performance.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• hex