jinx

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

jinx, n. 

 A person, object, influence, or supernatural being which is supposed to bring bad luck or to cause things to go wrong.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

jinx, v. t. 

 To bring bad luck to; to cause to malfunction or go wrong; as, some superstitious people are reluctant to predict success for fear it will jinx them.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

jinx, n. & v. colloq.
--n. a person or thing that seems to cause bad luck.
--v.tr. (often in passive) subject (a person) to an unlucky force.

Etymology

perh. var. of jynx wryneck, charm

THESAURUS

jinx

Jonah, abuse, afflict, aggrieve, bad influence, bedevil, befoul, bewitch, blight, bring bad luck, cantrip, charm, condemn, corrupt, crucify, curse, damage, damn, defile, demonize, deprave, despoil, destroy, diabolize, disadvantage, disserve, distress, do a mischief, do evil, do ill, do wrong, do wrong by, doom, enchantment, envenom, evil eye, evil genius, evil star, exorcism, get into trouble, glamour, harass, harm, hex, hoodoo, hurt, ill wind, impair, infect, injure, magic spell, malediction, malevolent influence, malocchio, maltreat, menace, mistreat, molest, nemesis, obsess, outrage, overlook, persecute, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, pollute, possess, prejudice, sabotage, savage, scathe, spell, taint, threaten, torment, torture, violate, voodoo, wanga, weird, whammy, witch, wound, wreak havoc on, wrong