jinx

American  

[jingks] / dʒɪŋks /

verb (used with object)

• jinxes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• jinxed,
  past participle,  past
• jinxing
  present participle

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.

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noun

• jinxes
  plural

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 British  

/ dʒɪŋks /

noun

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

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outjinx
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• jinxes
  plural

Participles

• jinxing
  present
• jinxed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• jinx
  simple
• jinxes
  simple
• have jinxed
  perfect
• has jinxed
  perfect
• am jinxing
  progressive
• are jinxing
  progressive
• is jinxing
  progressive
• have been jinxing
  perfect progressive
• has been jinxing
  perfect progressive

Past

• jinxed
  simple
• had jinxed
  perfect
• was jinxing
  progressive
• were jinxing
  progressive
• had been jinxing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will jinx
  simple
• will have jinxed
  perfect
• will be jinxing
  progressive
• will have been jinxing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of jinx

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”

Explanation

If your sister gets a flat tire every single time you ride in her car, she may have good reason to accuse you of being a jinx, or a bringer of bad luck. When your bad luck makes you think there's a jinx on you, you believe that you're cursed. A bad omen — like a black cat — can be called a jinx, or the resulting bad fortune itself might be referred to that way. Jinx is also a verb, meaning "to subject to bad luck." In the 17th century the word was jyng, which also meant a bird called a "wryneck," used in witchcraft.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jinx jinxes jinxed jinxing

The economy may have stuck the soft landing, but nobody wants to jinx it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

Asked if he was playing as well as he ever has, he replied: "I don't want to jinx it so I will keep my mouth shut on that question."

From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026

The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

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

From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025

Papa laughed, and said, “These mountains are full of that jinx stuff. If a man believed it all, he’d go crazy.”

From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

“Certainly it had nothing to do with the market selloff — it was just kind of one of those jinxes, if you want to call it that,” Saluzzi said.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026

In 2002, the Angels won the World Series, and talk of hexes and jinxes could be extinguished forever.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2022

Perhaps the answer is talent, or lack thereof, can override announcer and Twitter jinxes.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2021

Nantz is already talking like he’s won—paging Scott Hoch—which would have been the announcer jinx to end all announcer jinxes.

From Golf Digest ● Apr. 10, 2020

“Ron’s dad said they’ve put up jinxes against him—and even if they haven’t worked,” he pressed on as Hermione began to argue, “so what? I swear, I’d like nothing better than to meet Snape!”

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

There’s even some blame for New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, a Mets fan who apparently jinxed the team early April when he posed for a photo-op with unsettling team mascots Mr. and Mrs. Met.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

If it tanks, I’ll have jinxed it on behalf of all those EpiPen overpayers from the mid-2010s.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

Once again, Bill Plaschke has literally jinxed another Southern California sports team with his proclamation questions regarding the Rams:

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2025

Just two minutes after coming off the bench, Denzel Dumfries jinxed his way into the right side of the area and rolled the ball across for Thuram to tuck into the bottom left corner.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 21, 2023

Like any celebrity, Ignatius had attracted his fans: his mother’s jinxed relatives, neighbors, people Mrs. Reilly had not seen for years.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

To avoid jinxing it, Kohs and Krieg never even uttered the word Nobel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 17, 2026

What Times columnist Bill Plaschke is to jinxing Dodger baseball, we must have the same effect for Grammy hopefuls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2024

And perhaps to avoid jinxing things, she has revealed this year what is on her phone's lock screen to motivate her this time round, telling reporters: "You're going to know after the final."

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2023

“I think I could be jinxing a player who hasn’t come into the NBA yet by me anointing him as the next great one,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2022

“I’ll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window,” said Mr. Diggory, “but they’ll have a job proving it, there aren’t any casualties.”

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

Related Words

• hex