whammy

wham·my
W4H4A1M3M3Y4
US, UK/ˈ(h)wæmi/

noun

a serious or devastating setback

Similar
hexjinxcurse
UncommonScrabble 19
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Meanings

nounwhammy (plural whammies)

plural whammies · alternative whammie

  1. a serious or devastating setback
  2. an evil spell; a curse or hex
  3. colloquialThe vibrato system of an electric guitar, or just its lever (whammy bar)

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan evil spell

Similar
hexjinxcurse
Broader
spellmagic spellmagical spell
Also see
cursehexjinx

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From wham + -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian уроки
  • уроки (uroki)an evil spell; a curse or hex
French coup dur
  • coup dura serious or devastating setback
German böser Blick
  • böser Blicka serious or devastating setback
Italian duro colpo
  • duro colpoa serious or devastating setback
Russian неуда́ча, сглаз
  • неуда́ча (neudáča)a serious or devastating setback
  • сглаз (sglaz)an evil spell; a curse or hex
  • прокля́тье (prokljátʹje)an evil spell; a curse or hex

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with whammy

MiamisammytammygrammySamichamoisdammesammieTammiBeltramitammiejammyclammyramiehammyspammylambiePammyammyammiebammyblammybramidouble whammy
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

whammy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whammy

MLA

“whammy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whammy. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whammy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whammy.

Source: whammy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.