whammy

wham·my

W w

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [hwam-ee, wam-ee]
- /ˈʰwæm i, ˈwæm i/
- /ˈwæ.mi/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [hwam-ee, wam-ee]
- /ˈʰwæm i, ˈwæm i/

Definitions of whammy word

noun plural whammy the evil eye; jinx. 1
noun plural whammy bad luck or misfortune. 1
noun plural whammy a devastating blow, setback, or catastrophe: The drought and the high price of fertilizer are a double whammy to farmers. 1
idioms whammy put the whammy on, to give the evil eye to; jinx. to destroy, end, or eradicate: New controls will put the whammy on irresponsible spending. 1
noun whammy An event with a powerful and unpleasant effect; a blow. 1
noun whammy severe blow, setback 1

See all 11 definitions of whammy

Information block about the term

Origin of whammy

First appearance:

before 1935

One of the 8% newest English words

1935-40; wham + -y2, one of the methods of putting a whammy on someone being to strike the fist into the palm

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Whammy

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Whammy

whammy popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 68% 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.

whammy usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for whammy

noun whammy

spell — a continuous course or period of work or other activity: to take a spell at the wheel.
hex — to bewitch; practice witchcraft on: He was accused of hexing his neighbors' cows because they suddenly stopped giving milk.
abracadabra — Abracadabra is a word that someone says when they are performing a magic trick in order to make the magic happen.
charm — Charm is the quality of being pleasant or attractive.
conjuration — a magic spell; incantation

verb whammy

whacked — exhausted; tired out.
wham — a loud sound produced by an explosion or sharp impact: the wham of a pile driver.
whacking — large.

All 16 Synonyms of whammy