schlimazel

or shli·ma·zel

[ shli-mah-zuhl ]

noun

, Slang.

1. an inept, bungling person who suffers from unremitting bad luck:

   That poor schlimazel failed the driver's test for the fourth time—if he's lucky enough to ever get his license, his car will probably die.

Word History and Origins

Origin of schlimazel¹

First recorded in 1945–50; from Yiddish, from shlim “bad, evil” (compare German schlimm “bad, evil, wrong”) + mazl “luck” (from Hebrew mazzāl “constellation, destiny, luck”; mazel tov ( def ) )