"double whammy" meaning in English

See double whammy in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˌdʌbl̩ ˈ(h)wæmi/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌdʌb(ə)l ˈ(h)wæmi/ [General-American] Audio: En-us-double whammy.oga [General-American] Forms: double whammies [plural], double-whammy [alternative]
Rhymes: -æmi Etymology: From double + whammy (“evil spell; curse or hex”), popularized by the American cartoonist Al Capp (1909–1979), in his classic comic strip Li’l Abner (1934–1977). Etymology templates: {{compound|en|double|whammy|notext=1|t2=evil spell; curse or hex|type=endocentric}} double + whammy (“evil spell; curse or hex”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} double whammy (plural double whammies), {{tlb|en|informal}} (informal)
  1. A series of two events that causes adverse effects; a twofold blow or setback. Tags: informal Related terms: triple whammy, double-trouble Translations (series of two events that causes adverse effects): ორმაგი დარტყმა (ormagi darṭq̇ma) (Georgian), двойной удар (dvojnoj udar) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-double_whammy-en-noun-sjk0B6vC Categories (other): English endocentric compounds, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Georgian translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Two Disambiguation of English endocentric compounds: 65 35 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 94 6 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 88 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 94 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Georgian translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 87 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Two: 63 37 Disambiguation of 'series of two events that causes adverse effects': 76 24
  2. (by extension) A series of two events that causes positive effects; a twofold boon. Tags: broadly, informal Translations (series of two events that causes positive effects): carambola [feminine] (Spanish), dupleta [Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, feminine] (Spanish), doblete [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-double_whammy-en-noun-w3pftBz- Disambiguation of 'series of two events that causes positive effects': 32 68

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "double",
        "3": "whammy",
        "notext": "1",
        "t2": "evil spell; curse or hex",
        "type": "endocentric"
      },
      "expansion": "double + whammy (“evil spell; curse or hex”)",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From double + whammy (“evil spell; curse or hex”), popularized by the American cartoonist Al Capp (1909–1979), in his classic comic strip Li’l Abner (1934–1977).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "double whammies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "double-whammy",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "double whammy (plural double whammies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "informal"
      },
      "expansion": "(informal)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "doub",
        "le wham",
        "my"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "65 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English endocentric compounds",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "94 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "94 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Georgian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "88 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "63 37",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Two",
          "orig": "en:Two",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              132,
              145
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 July 8, Steve Luckings, “Are Egypt right to blame officials (and Fifa) for their World Cup exit?”, in The National:",
          "text": "Martinez is fouled before Zico's disallowed goal. His shirt is pulled and his foot is trodden on as he tries to continue his run. A double whammy. Egypt can have few complaints.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A series of two events that causes adverse effects; a twofold blow or setback."
      ],
      "id": "en-double_whammy-en-noun-sjk0B6vC",
      "links": [
        [
          "series",
          "series"
        ],
        [
          "two",
          "two#Numeral"
        ],
        [
          "events",
          "event#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "causes",
          "cause#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ],
        [
          "effects",
          "effect#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "twofold",
          "twofold#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "blow",
          "blow#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "setback",
          "setback"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "word": "triple whammy"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "word": "double-trouble"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "lang_code": "ka",
          "roman": "ormagi darṭq̇ma",
          "sense": "series of two events that causes adverse effects",
          "word": "ორმაგი დარტყმა"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "76 24",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "dvojnoj udar",
          "sense": "series of two events that causes adverse effects",
          "word": "двойной удар"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A series of two events that causes positive effects; a twofold boon."
      ],
      "id": "en-double_whammy-en-noun-w3pftBz-",
      "links": [
        [
          "positive",
          "positive#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "boon",
          "boon#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A series of two events that causes positive effects; a twofold boon."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "32 68",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "series of two events that causes positive effects",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "carambola"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "32 68",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "series of two events that causes positive effects",
          "tags": [
            "Bolivia",
            "Peru",
            "Venezuela",
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "dupleta"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "32 68",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "series of two events that causes positive effects",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "doblete"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdʌbl̩ ˈ(h)wæmi/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdʌb(ə)l ˈ(h)wæmi/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-double whammy.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/67/En-us-double_whammy.oga/En-us-double_whammy.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/En-us-double_whammy.oga",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æmi"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Al Capp"
  ],
  "word": "double whammy"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound nouns",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English endocentric compounds",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English informal terms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/æmi",
    "Rhymes:English/æmi/4 syllables",
    "Terms with Georgian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:Two"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "double",
        "3": "whammy",
        "notext": "1",
        "t2": "evil spell; curse or hex",
        "type": "endocentric"
      },
      "expansion": "double + whammy (“evil spell; curse or hex”)",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From double + whammy (“evil spell; curse or hex”), popularized by the American cartoonist Al Capp (1909–1979), in his classic comic strip Li’l Abner (1934–1977).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "double whammies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "double-whammy",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "double whammy (plural double whammies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "informal"
      },
      "expansion": "(informal)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "doub",
        "le wham",
        "my"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "triple whammy"
    },
    {
      "word": "double-trouble"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              132,
              145
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 July 8, Steve Luckings, “Are Egypt right to blame officials (and Fifa) for their World Cup exit?”, in The National:",
          "text": "Martinez is fouled before Zico's disallowed goal. His shirt is pulled and his foot is trodden on as he tries to continue his run. A double whammy. Egypt can have few complaints.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A series of two events that causes adverse effects; a twofold blow or setback."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "series",
          "series"
        ],
        [
          "two",
          "two#Numeral"
        ],
        [
          "events",
          "event#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "causes",
          "cause#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ],
        [
          "effects",
          "effect#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "twofold",
          "twofold#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "blow",
          "blow#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "setback",
          "setback"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A series of two events that causes positive effects; a twofold boon."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "positive",
          "positive#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "boon",
          "boon#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A series of two events that causes positive effects; a twofold boon."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdʌbl̩ ˈ(h)wæmi/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdʌb(ə)l ˈ(h)wæmi/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-double whammy.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/67/En-us-double_whammy.oga/En-us-double_whammy.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/En-us-double_whammy.oga",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æmi"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "lang_code": "ka",
      "roman": "ormagi darṭq̇ma",
      "sense": "series of two events that causes adverse effects",
      "word": "ორმაგი დარტყმა"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "dvojnoj udar",
      "sense": "series of two events that causes adverse effects",
      "word": "двойной удар"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "series of two events that causes positive effects",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "carambola"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "series of two events that causes positive effects",
      "tags": [
        "Bolivia",
        "Peru",
        "Venezuela",
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "dupleta"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "series of two events that causes positive effects",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "doblete"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Al Capp"
  ],
  "word": "double whammy"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (be32728 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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