schlemiel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There is an old Yiddish joke: the schlemiel spills the soup; the schlimazel is the person it lands on.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
In some regards this narrator, a husband and father, is Mr. Lerner’s most mature alter ego, but he often seems like the same schlemiel as the feckless grad student in “Leaving the Atocha Station.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Played by Noah Segan, the film’s writer-director, Francis is Jewish and speaks Yiddish; sometimes schlep and schlemiel just make his points better.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
And so the schlemiel became a stand-in for a generation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2021
“No, like an utter schlemiel, I just walked in there. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Vocabulary lists containing schlemiel
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