whammy
[ hwam-ee, wam-ee ]
/ ˈʰwæm i, ˈwæm i /
noun, plural wham·mies. Informal.
the evil eye; jinx.
bad luck or misfortune.
a devastating blow, setback, or catastrophe: The drought and the high price of fertilizer are a double whammy to farmers.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
Idioms
- to give the evil eye to; jinx.
- to destroy, end, or eradicate: New controls will put the whammy on irresponsible spending.
put the whammy on,
Origin of whammy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for whammy
Then, he enters a Whammy Burger and attempts to order breakfast, but is refused for being a few minutes late.
This time they ain't none of them screwy Venusians to put the whammy on him, and he's doing okay.
Hoiman and the Solar Circuit|Gordon Dewey
whammy
/ (ˈwæmɪ) /
noun plural -mies
something which has great, often negative, impactthe double whammy of high interest rates and low wage increases
an evil spell or curseshe was convinced he had put the whammy on her
Word Origin for whammy
C20: wham + -y ²
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
whammy
often double whammy, "hex, evil eye," 1932, of unknown origin, popularized 1941 in Al Capp's comic strip "Li'l Abner."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper