Etymology

schlimazel

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Today it means: A chronically unlucky person. Full definition →

Yiddish שלימזל ← Middle High German slim ← Hebrew מזל
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The story

  1. Hebrew · derived fromמזל“luck”
  2. Middle High German · derived fromslim“crooked”
  3. Yiddish · borrowed fromשלימזל
  4. English todayschlimazel

Borrowed from Yiddish שלימזל (shlimazl), from Middle High German slim (“crooked”) and Hebrew מזל (mazzāl, “luck”)

Words from the same roots

Yiddishשלימזל all →

shemozzle

Middle High Germanslim all →

shemozzle

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.