variants
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
-
Many walk away losers while riding the gambling lightning.—
David Hookstead OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2026
-
The loser of the WVU-Troy game will be eliminated from the College World Series.—
Mike Darnay,
CBS News,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
Maybe the Trumps are right and my family boasts a lot of chumps, sending six men off to World War II alone.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
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
Noun
-
Star-studded, and then some, the upcoming show boasts giant of stage and screen John Lithgow as Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Golden Globe winner Janet McTeer as stern but wise Professor Minerva McGonagall, and comedy stalwart Nick Frost as gentle oaf Rubeus Hagrid.—
Charlotte Reck,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
-
And then find a slippery road, or just drive like an oaf.—
Jonathan M. Gitlin,
ArsTechnica,
16 Feb. 2026
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
-
The league’s most popular player has become its biggest lout.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
-
There’s a maddening human truth tucked into the fact that everyone — from Lebedev’s forceful, hopeful young daughter Sasha (Maya Shoham) to the lout Borkin, whom Labbadia embodies irresistibly as a kind of Bronx-y hustler — is drawn to this man in free fall.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2026
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
-
Adding poultry, such as chicken or turkey, to starchy meals, such as those made with pasta, rice, and potatoes, can be an effective way to support better blood sugar management.—
Jillian Kubala,
Health,
16 June 2026
-
Several foods above 41 degrees, including raw chicken at 56F, pork at 57F, and turkey at 56F were observed at Village Burger Bar, at 12300 Inwood Road, Ste 210.—
Mary Ella Hastings
June 16,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
So a lot of the counterintelligence training that's given to the troops, the officers, the defense contractors, a lot of it is kind of like, don't be naive, don't be a dolt, in short.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
26 Feb. 2026
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Schlemiel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/schlemiel. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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