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schlemiels

 - 4 dictionary results

schle⋅miel

  [shluh-meel]
Use schlemiels in a Sentence
–noun Slang.
an awkward and unlucky person for whom things never turn out right.
Also, schle⋅mihl, shlemiel.

Origin:
1890–95; < Yiddish shlemil < Heb shəlumīʾēl Shelumiel, a Biblical and Talmudic figure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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schle·miel also shle·miel   (shlə-mēl')   
n.   Slang
A habitual bungler; a dolt.

[Yiddish shlemíl, perhaps from Hebrew šəlūmî'ēl, my well-being is God, Shelumiel (a character in the Bible, Numbers 7:36) : šəlūmî, my well-being (šālôm, well-being; see šlm in Semitic roots + -î, my) + 'ēl, God; see l in Semitic roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
schlemiel [ʃləˈmil]

and schlemihl; shlemiel
  1. n.
    a gullible person; a loser. (From Hebrew Shelumiel via Yiddish.) : See if you can get that schlemiel to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

schlemiel 
"awkward, clumsy person," 1892, from Yiddish shlemiel "bungler," from main character in A. von Chamisso's Ger. fable "The Wonderful History of Peter Schlemihl" (1813), probably from Biblical name Shelumiel (Num. i.6), chief of the tribe of Simeon, identified with the Simeonite prince Zimri ben Salu, who was killed while committing adultery. (cf. schlemazel).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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