jinx

/dʒɪŋks/

/dʒiŋks/

Other forms: jinxed; jinxing; jinxes

If your sister gets a flat tire every single time you ride in her car, she may have good reason to accuse you of being a jinx, or a bringer of bad luck.

When your bad luck makes you think there's a jinx on you, you believe that you're cursed. A bad omen — like a black cat — can be called a jinx, or the resulting bad fortune itself might be referred to that way. Jinx is also a verb, meaning "to subject to bad luck." In the 17th century the word was jyng, which also meant a bird called a "wryneck," used in witchcraft.

Definitions of jinx

1. noun

   an evil spell
   synonyms: curse, hex, whammy

   type of:

   charm, magic spell, magical spell, spell

   a verbal formula believed to have magical force
2. noun

   a person believed to bring bad luck to those around him
   synonyms: jonah

   type of:

   unfortunate, unfortunate person

   a person who suffers misfortune
3. verb

   cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something
   synonyms: bewitch, enchant, ensorcel, ensorcell, glamour, hex, witch

   types:

   voodoo

   bewitch by or as if by a voodoo

   spell

   place under a spell

   type of:

   becharm, charm

   control by magic spells, as by practicing witchcraft
4. verb

   foredoom to failure
   “This project is jinxed!”

   type of:

   foreordain, predestine, preordain

   foreordain or determine beforehand