-
- 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 8 Feb. 2025.
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