Word
whammy
Phoneticswham·my
US/ˈhwæmi/
UK/wˈæmi/
Definition
n. a sudden, bad event or a very lucky break. It is often used when something happens that you did not expect at all.
n. an unexpected, often significant, event or consequence. Frequently used in the phrase 'whammy' to describe a sudden stroke of luck or a sudden misfortune.
Examples
“I didn't expect that promotion to be a whammy.”
“The sudden drop in interest rates was a real whammy for the housing market.”
“While the initial investment seemed sound, the subsequent regulatory changes proved to be a whammy that the firm was ill-prepared to handle.”
Examples
simple
“I didn't expect that promotion to be a whammy.”
contextual
“The sudden drop in interest rates was a real whammy for the housing market.”
complex
“While the initial investment seemed sound, the subsequent regulatory changes proved to be a whammy that the firm was ill-prepared to handle.”
Real-World Examples
“VAT is already charged at 20% on hotels - much higher than in other countries - and now they’ll pay VAT on this tourism tax too: a Labour double whammy.” “Bidner said the thefts and the parasite were a “double whammy”.” Etymology
From wham + -y.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/whammy