-
- To save this word, you'll need to log in.
Examples of schlemiel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
He, the promising artist who died young, and I, the schlemiel who shovels out several hundred dollars a month to the storage company to house his artworks.
—Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023
Sanderson seems to me like an opportunist with an appetite for attention, or at the very least a schlemiel, possibly a little vain.
—Mireille Silcoff, New York Times, 2 May 2023
That poor schlemiel completely missed the point that Tim didn’t create the World Wide Web.
—Gil Press, Forbes, 26 Mar. 2023
On Instagram, Gellar posted a screencap of her titular Slayer meeting Pascal’s Eddie, a hapless schlemiel who — like Buffy herself — is having trouble adjusting to college life at UC Sunnydale.
—Vulture, 1 Mar. 2023
Superman was the ultimate hero, but Clark Kent was a schlemiel.
—David Mamet, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022
Like Woyzeck himself, Heather Chrisler's Helen hovers between antihero and schlemiel.
—Chicago Reader, 23 Aug. 2017
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Word History
Etymology
Yiddish shlemil
First Known Use
1868, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near schlemiel
Cite this Entry
“Schlemiel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schlemiel. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
schlemiel
noun
schle·miel
variants
also shlemiel
shlə-ˈmē(ə)l
: an unlucky and foolish person : chump
More from Merriam-Webster on schlemiel
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for schlemiel
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share