schlemiel

American  

[shluh-meel] / ʃləˈmil /

Or schlemihl,

noun

Slang.

1. an awkward and unlucky person for whom things never turn out right.

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schlemiel British  

/ ʃləˈmiːl /

noun

1. slang an awkward or unlucky person whose endeavours usually fail

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Etymology

Origin of schlemiel

1890–95; < Yiddish shlemil < Hebrew shəlumīʾēl Shelumiel, a Biblical and Talmudic figure

Explanation

A schlemiel is a somewhat dopey, awkward person. You might angrily call your brother a schlemiel after he drops the cake you've spent all day making, stumbles, and sits on it. Nothing every goes quite right for a schlemiel — he's the guy who never seems to get any good luck, and who's less than brilliant and not particularly graceful. A schlemiel in a movie is an object of fun, perfect for laughing at. In real life, it's pretty hard to be a schlemiel. The word schlemiel means "bungler" in Yiddish, from a character called Peter Schlemihl in a classic German fable.

Example Sentences

“My first book,” in 1971, “was on ‘The Schlemiel as Modern Hero,’ or the comedy of the loser as winner,” Ms. Wisse says.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Lepke and Schmukler they found guilty�not guilty Little Schlemiel Kardonick, who wept.

From Time Magazine Archive

This kosher Candide reincarnates the nonhero of Jewish folklore: Peter Schlemiel, the enemy of commissar and cop.

From Time Magazine Archive

This kosher Candide reincarnates the non-hero of Jewish folklore: Peter Schlemiel, the enemy of commissar and cop.

From Time Magazine Archive

You should go tell him to change his name to Schlemiel.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole