whammy

[wam-ee, hwam-ee]

noun

Informal.

plural

whammies 

1. a devastating blow, setback, or catastrophe.

   The drought and the high price of fertilizer are a double whammy to farmers.

   The big whammy will be the coming update, which could make our software nonfunctional.

2. bad luck or misfortune.

3. Often the whammy the evil eye; jinx.

whammy

/ ˈwæmɪ /

noun

1. something which has great, often negative, impact

   the double whammy of high interest rates and low wage increases

2. an evil spell or curse

   she was convinced he had put the whammy on her

Word History and Origins

Origin of whammy¹

First recorded in 1935–40; wham + -y ², after a method of jinxing someone by striking the fist into the palm

Word History and Origins

Origin of whammy¹

C20: _wham + _-y ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. put the whammy on,

   1. to give the evil eye to; jinx.

   2. to destroy, end, or eradicate.

      New controls will put the whammy on irresponsible spending.

Example Sentences

Western businesses, for their part, face a triple whammy when competing with China.

Read more on Barron's

That confidence, however, didn’t extend to Wall Street, which zeroed in on a double whammy of Wednesday’s lower-than-expected quarterly earnings and weaker outlook for the fiscal year.

Read more on MarketWatch

“Californians are going to be facing a double whammy: premiums going up and tax credits going away,” Altman said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The triple whammy of lower sales, lower prices and higher incentives has also weighed on home builders’ profitability, and is expected to continue to hurt results in the coming months.

Read more on MarketWatch

Also see: Stock market faces midweek double whammy as Fed decision collides with megacap tech earnings.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• hex