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The origin of whammy is not entirely certain, but it is assumed to have been created by combining wham (a solid blow) with the whimsical -y ending. The first example of whammy in print occured in 1940, but the word was popularized in the 1950s by the cartoonist Al Capp in the comic strip Li'l Abner. The character Evil-Eye Fleegle could paralyze someone with the sheer power of his gaze. The single whammy was a look with one eye, and the fearsome double whammy used both eyes. As you may know, double whammy has also found a place in English as a general term. It means "a combination of two adverse forces, circumstances, or effects" - in other words, a one-two punch.
Synonyms
Examples of whammy in a Sentence
Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2024
The big picture: The triple whammy of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and the Boeing strike are likely to distort economic data in the coming weeks, making the usual indicators of the economy's health more difficult to dissect.
—Neil Irwin, Axios, 11 Oct. 2024
Watson’s poor performance is something of a triple whammy for Cleveland: The team is losing games, his contract is onerous, and former Browns quarterbacks are thriving with other teams.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 6 Oct. 2024
The real whammy for women is that that number is even higher earlier in their career.
—Lindsay Kohler, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Whammy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whammy. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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