whammy

American  

[wam-ee, hwam-ee] / ˈwæm i, ˈʰwæm i /

noun

Informal.

plural

whammies

1. a devastating blow, setback, or catastrophe.

   The drought and the high price of fertilizer are a double whammy to farmers.

   The big whammy will be the coming update, which could make our software nonfunctional.

2. bad luck or misfortune.

3. Often the whammy the evil eye; jinx.

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idioms

1. put the whammy on,

   1. to give the evil eye to; jinx.

   2. to destroy, end, or eradicate.

      New controls will put the whammy on irresponsible spending.

whammy British  

/ ˈwæmɪ /

noun

1. something which has great, often negative, impact

   the double whammy of high interest rates and low wage increases

2. an evil spell or curse

   she was convinced he had put the whammy on her

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Etymology

Origin of whammy

First recorded in 1935–40; wham + -y ², after a method of jinxing someone by striking the fist into the palm

Example Sentences

That could mean a double whammy for children’s birthday parties.

From The Wall Street Journal

She said this represents a “double whammy” — in a positive sense — for many parts of the market in Europe.

From MarketWatch

They scored twice in four minutes, a double whammy that put them in front.

From BBC

Hospitality bosses say their industry faces a significant double whammy - customers with less money to spend and rising business costs including taxes, food, wages and energy.

From BBC

The duties came as the company was facing a triple whammy of cratering sales in China, stagnant demand in Europe and the costs of investing into electric cars despite patchy demand.

From Barron's

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