jinx

[ jingks ]

See synonyms for: jinx jinxed on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

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.
to destroy the point of: His sudden laugh jinxed the host's joke.

noun

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

(used after two people say exactly the same thing at exactly the same time): I’ll drive—jinx! Great minds think alike!

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”

Other words from jinx

out·jinx, verb (used with object)

Words Nearby jinx

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use jinx in a sentence

Even as I confess this, I worry about the jinx I am placing on my rituals.
Emily Ratajkowski: How I Learned to Let Go | Emily Ratajkowski | October 26, 2021 | Time
Streaming platforms also hopped on the trend, releasing docuseries like The jinx and Making a Murderer.
The Bizarre and Unsettling Rise of True-Crime Makeup Videos on YouTube and TikTok | Hannah Jackson | October 18, 2021 | The Daily Beast
Is it a jinx, like being put on the cover of Sports Illustrated?
The Second Life of San Miguel de Allende | Michele Willens | February 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I helped make the ads; it was too late for a sea change, but late enough to break the midterm jinx.
Obama Must Fight One More Campaign: To Keep Senate & Win House in 2014 | Robert Shrum | February 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Stolen By jinx Jamison and Minx Malone The Madame X School of Sex series of short ebooks are steamy cheap buys.
Sexier Than ‘50 Shades of Grey’: Naughtiest Bits From 12 Other Erotica Bestsellers | | July 12, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

Once was unlucky, twice looked like an evil jinx, a curse, an astrological conspiracy.
Are World Cup Refs Against the U.S.? | Tunku Varadarajan | June 23, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Only a jinx of the most malevolent type could have prompted his hurried exit from a train to dodge an imaginary "bull."
A Reversible Santa Claus | Meredith Nicholson
The other night I took a walk, and called on jinx, across the block.
Uncle Walt [Walt Mason] | Walt Mason
The home of jinx was full of boys and girls and forty kinds of noise.
Uncle Walt [Walt Mason] | Walt Mason
“Worst jinx in the world to see a cross-eyed man,” I replied.
Pitching in a Pinch | Christy Mathewson
One adopted the plan of "expecting disappointment" as a means of cheating the "jinx."
The Conquest of Fear | Basil King

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

Origin of 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

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