jinx
[ jingks ]
/ dʒɪŋks /
Save This Word!
noun
a person, thing, or influence supposed to bring bad luck.
verb (used with object)
to bring bad luck to; place a jinx on: The strike has jinxed my plans to go to Milwaukee for the weekend.
to destroy the point of: His sudden laugh jinxed the host's joke.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON "EVOKE" VS. "INVOKE"!
Call upon your favorite grammar inspirations to tackle this quiz on the differences and uses of "evoke" and "invoke."
Question 1 of 7
“Evoke” and “invoke” both derive from the same Latin root “vocāre.”
Meet Grammar Coach
Improve Your Writing
Origin of jinx
1910–15, Americanism; perhaps <Latin jynx wryneck (bird used in divination and magic) <Greek íynx
OTHER WORDS FROM jinx
outjinx, verb (used with object)Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use jinx in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for jinx
jinx
/ (dʒɪŋks) /
noun
an unlucky or malevolent force, person, or thing
verb
(tr) to be or put a jinx on
Word Origin for jinx
C20: perhaps from New Latin Jynx genus name of the wryneck, from Greek iunx wryneck, the name of a bird used in magic
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012