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also shlemiel
as in loser
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Recent Examples of schlemiel
But Mauser refuses to be just another schlemiel working at a shoestore.
—
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2025
This character may be Grade’s most magnificently grotesque creation, half demon, half schlemiel.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025
He, the promising artist who died young, and I, the schlemiel who shovels out several hundred dollars a month to the storage company to house his artworks.
—Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023
Sanderson seems to me like an opportunist with an appetite for attention, or at the very least a schlemiel, possibly a little vain.
—Mireille Silcoff, New York Times, 2 May 2023
That poor schlemiel completely missed the point that Tim didn’t create the World Wide Web.
—Gil Press, Forbes, 26 Mar. 2023
On Instagram, Gellar posted a screencap of her titular Slayer meeting Pascal’s Eddie, a hapless schlemiel who — like Buffy herself — is having trouble adjusting to college life at UC Sunnydale.
—Vulture, 1 Mar. 2023
Superman was the ultimate hero, but Clark Kent was a schlemiel.
—David Mamet, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022
Like Woyzeck himself, Heather Chrisler's Helen hovers between antihero and schlemiel.
—Chicago Reader, 23 Aug. 2017
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2025
This character may be Grade’s most magnificently grotesque creation, half demon, half schlemiel.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025
He, the promising artist who died young, and I, the schlemiel who shovels out several hundred dollars a month to the storage company to house his artworks.
—Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023
Sanderson seems to me like an opportunist with an appetite for attention, or at the very least a schlemiel, possibly a little vain.
—Mireille Silcoff, New York Times, 2 May 2023
That poor schlemiel completely missed the point that Tim didn’t create the World Wide Web.
—Gil Press, Forbes, 26 Mar. 2023
On Instagram, Gellar posted a screencap of her titular Slayer meeting Pascal’s Eddie, a hapless schlemiel who — like Buffy herself — is having trouble adjusting to college life at UC Sunnydale.
—Vulture, 1 Mar. 2023
Superman was the ultimate hero, but Clark Kent was a schlemiel.
—David Mamet, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022
Like Woyzeck himself, Heather Chrisler's Helen hovers between antihero and schlemiel.
—Chicago Reader, 23 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for schlemiel
Noun
-
The country doesn’t have answers that don’t involve upskilling, education, or trying and failing to compensate the losers.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2026
-
There were no winners or losers, at least in the typical uses of the terms, and at the end of the night, people continued with friendly conversation, well after the game had ended.—
Jeff Banowetz,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Miller has always taken the American people for brainless, heartless chumps lost in a swamp of nostalgia who’ll believe whatever Trumpworld tells them to.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
-
If the Niners lose, the Rams can grab the No. 5 seed and a date with the NFC South chump.—
Vic Tafur,
New York Times,
1 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
And in the 1939 film, the Wizard is a kind of bumbling oaf who has stumbled onto the levers of power (almost literally).—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
21 Nov. 2025
-
The Irish independence-supporting Fenians, represented primarily by hotheaded oaf Paddy (Seamus O’Hara) and his more strategically minded sister Ellen (Niamh McCormack), loathe the family’s conservative unionist policies.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Don’t be a palooka, start Nacua.—
Bill Reinhard,
New York Daily News,
12 Dec. 2024
-
One year after the Academy bafflingly ignored his work in Sideways, Giamatti finally scored his first Oscar nomination for his purely entertaining performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s proudly old-fashioned Depression-era palooka drama.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2024
Noun
-
Less impactful but notable, Riley added Jimmy Butler to join the Bam Adebayo/Tyler Herro core in 2020, though Butler fell short of delivering a championship before eventually pouting his way lout of town and being traded one year ago, last Feb. 6.—
Greg Cote
January 30,
Miami Herald,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Suddenly, these two louts are forced to support themselves for the first time.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
29 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
In recent episodes, Gene has again taken to criminal scheming, employing the help of Jeff, the Omaha schnook who recognized the Cinnabon manager as the high-profile Saul Goodman.—
oregonlive,
oregonlive,
8 Aug. 2022
-
Sosa has hired someone, a poor schnook named Julian Martinez, to carry his boombox from city to city, clubhouse to clubhouse.—
Teddy Greenstein,
chicagotribune.com,
3 May 2018
Noun
-
Look for lean deli meats such as turkey breast, chicken breast, roast beef, and low-fat ham.—
Merve Ceylan,
Health,
17 Feb. 2026
-
McGinnis said she was disappointed to find the fresh turkey was gone — always a favorite in their house.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Most apartment buildings, basic or deluxe, barely qualify as architecture at all, not because they are designed by dolts but because developers (and the zoning code) demand a crushing efficiency.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
28 Jan. 2026
-
He was denounced by rebel propagandists as a tyrant and remembered by Americans as a reactionary dolt.—
Bhumika Tharoor,
The Atlantic,
30 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Schlemiel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/schlemiel. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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