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Synonyms

jinx

American  
[jingks] / dʒɪŋks /

verb (used with object)

  1. to bring bad luck to; curse.

    According to tradition, wishing an actor “good luck” before a show will jinx their performance.

    That place on the corner seems jinxed—no business ever stays there for long.

  2. to destroy the point of.

    His sudden laugh jinxed the host's joke.

noun

  1. a person, thing, or influence supposed to bring bad luck.

    They said I was a jinx, because every time I came to see them play, they lost.

interjection

  1. (used after two people say exactly the same thing at exactly the same time).

    I’ll drive—jinx! Great minds think alike!
jinx British  
/ dʒɪŋks /

noun

  1. an unlucky or malevolent force, person, or thing

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to be or put a jinx on

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • outjinx verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of jinx

An Americanism first recorded in 1910–15; perhaps from Latin jynx “wryneck” (bird used in divination and magic), from Greek íynx, perhaps from or akin to iýzein “to shout, yell”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Asked if he was playing as well as he ever has, he replied: "I don't want to jinx it so I will keep my mouth shut on that question."

From Barron's • Jan. 25, 2026

The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

“I don’t want to jinx it,” said Seckeita Lewis, who was flying Friday from San Francisco to Dallas on American Airlines.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

Perhaps it was a jinx, but a little more than eight months later, the Gallagher brothers would call it quits on August 22, 2009, at the V Festival in Weston Park, England.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2025

“You will now divide,” Snape went on, “into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on.”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.