hexed

hex ¹  (hks)

n.

1. An evil spell; a curse.

2. One that brings bad luck.

tr.v. hexed, hex·ing, hex·es

1. To put a hex on.

2. To bring or wish bad luck to: "Chilly evening weather and a chain of minor snafus seemed to hex the $5,000-a-seat gala on Governors Island" Newsweek.

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[Pennsylvania Dutch, from German hexen, to hex, from Hexe, witch, from Middle High German hecse, from Old High German hagzissa.]

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hexer n.

Word History: The word hex is a good example of the sort of borrowing from other languages that occurred in the English-speaking former colonies of Great Britain. German and Swiss immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 17th and 18th centuries spoke a dialect of German known as Pennsylvania Dutch. In this dialect hexe was the equivalent of the German verb hexen, "to practice sorcery." The English verb hex, first recorded in the sense "to practice witchcraft" in an 1830 work called Annals of Philadelphia, is borrowed from Pennsylvania Dutch, as is the noun.

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

hexed - (usually used colloquially) causing or accompanied by misfortune jinxed colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech luckless, unlucky - having or bringing misfortune; "Friday the 13th is an unlucky date"