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 Words From

• out·jinx 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

Even as I confess this, I worry about the jinx I am placing on my rituals.

From Time

Streaming platforms also hopped on the trend, releasing docuseries like The Jinx and Making a Murderer.

From The Daily Beast

Is it a jinx, like being put on the cover of Sports Illustrated?

From The Daily Beast

I helped make the ads; it was too late for a sea change, but late enough to break the midterm jinx.

From The Daily Beast

Stolen By Jinx Jamison and Minx Malone The Madame X School of Sex series of short ebooks are steamy cheap buys.

From The Daily Beast

Once was unlucky, twice looked like an evil jinx, a curse, an astrological conspiracy.

From 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."

From Project Gutenberg

The other night I took a walk, and called on Jinx, across the block.

From Project Gutenberg

The home of Jinx was full of boys and girls and forty kinds of noise.

From Project Gutenberg

“Worst jinx in the world to see a cross-eyed man,” I replied.

From Project Gutenberg

One adopted the plan of "expecting disappointment" as a means of cheating the "jinx."

From Project Gutenberg