schlemiel
/ʃləˈmiːl/
"schlemiel" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“schlemiel” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A loser or a fool.
Corpus desk
Index EN-schlemiel · schlemiel · English
schlemiel · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | schlemiel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ʃləˈmiːl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “schlemiel” in English
Rare enough to double-check
schlemiel is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ʃləˈmiːl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for schlemiel, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Yiddish שלימיל (shlimil). The correct English form is schlemiel, spelled S-C-H-L-E-M-I-E-L.
Definition
- 1A loser or a fool.
- 2A person who is clumsy or who hurts others emotionally.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how schlemiel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
On Jewish Heritage Day, there was ample time to debate whether the Mets are schlemiels or schlimazels with the home team down 8-1 after five. Fans were given shirts that read “Let’s Go Mets” in Hebrew, but “Oy vey!” was more appropriate.
In that series, creator/writer/star Dildarian played the titular Tim, a 20-something laconic schlemiel living in New York with his girlfriend, Amy — a “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-type existence peppered with awkward situations.
Etymology
Borrowed from Yiddish שלימיל (shlimil).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.