whammy

noun

wham·​my ˈ(h)wa-mē 

plural whammies

1

a

: a supernatural power bringing bad luck

b

: a magic curse or spell : jinx, hex

2

: a potent force or attack

specifically : a paralyzing or lethal blow

Did you know?

The origin of whammy is not entirely certain, but it is assumed to have been created by combining wham (a solid blow) with the whimsical -y ending. The first example of whammy in print occured in 1940, but the word was popularized in the 1950s by the cartoonist Al Capp in the comic strip Li'l Abner. The character Evil-Eye Fleegle could paralyze someone with the sheer power of his gaze. The single whammy was a look with one eye, and the fearsome double whammy used both eyes. As you may know, double whammy has also found a place in English as a general term. It means "a combination of two adverse forces, circumstances, or effects" - in other words, a one-two punch.

Synonyms

• abracadabra
• bewitchment
• charm
• conjuration
• enchantment
• glamour
• glamor
• hex
• incantation
• invocation
• spell

Examples of whammy in a Sentence

if you tell anyone about this, I swear I'll put the whammy on you

put the whammy on herself by publicly predicting that she would win the tennis tournament

Recent Examples on the Web

The big picture: The triple whammy of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and the Boeing strike are likely to distort economic data in the coming weeks, making the usual indicators of the economy's health more difficult to dissect. —Neil Irwin, Axios, 11 Oct. 2024

Watson’s poor performance is something of a triple whammy for Cleveland: The team is losing games, his contract is onerous, and former Browns quarterbacks are thriving with other teams. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 6 Oct. 2024

The real whammy for women is that that number is even higher earlier in their career. —Lindsay Kohler, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024

But another former Fermilab physicist who works at a different DOE lab says earlier this decade the lab’s business offices got hit with a triple whammy. —Byadrian Cho, science.org, 14 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably from wham entry 1

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing whammy

• double whammy
• put the whammy on someone

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