schlemiel

schle·miel

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [shluh-meel]
- /ʃləˈmil/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [shluh-meel]
- /ʃləˈmil/

Definitions of schlemiel word

noun schlemiel an awkward and unlucky person for whom things never turn out right. 1
noun schlemiel clumsy person 1
noun schlemiel an awkward or unlucky person whose endeavours usually fail 0
noun schlemiel an ineffectual, bungling person who habitually fails or is easily victimized 0

See all 4 definitions of schlemiel

Information block about the term

Origin of schlemiel

First appearance:

before 1890

One of the 20% newest English words

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

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Schlemiel

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Schlemiel

schlemiel popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 50% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

schlemiel usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for schlemiel

noun schlemiel

birdbrain — a foolish or unintelligent person
botcher — to spoil by poor work; bungle (often followed by up): He botched up the job thoroughly.
bumbler — to bungle or blunder awkwardly; muddle: He somehow bumbled through two years of college.
bumblers — to bungle or blunder awkwardly; muddle: He somehow bumbled through two years of college.
daisies — any of various composite plants the flowers of which have a yellow disk and white rays, as the English daisy and the oxeye daisy.

All 28 Synonyms of schlemiel