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 ) )

Example Sentences

Ms. Williams and Marshall’s chant of “schlemiel, schlimazel” as they skipped together became a cultural phenomenon and oft-invoked piece of nostalgia.

From Washington Post

In Yiddish, is he a schlemiel or a a schlimazel, eh?

From New York Times

“Unlike Menashe in the film, I’m not a schlimazel by nature. Maybe just a schlimazel by situation.”

From Los Angeles Times

Herzog is a comic figure, a holy fool, a schlimazel with a Ph.D.

From The New Yorker