as in blow
informal
a situation that is bad in two different ways; a situation in which two bad conditions exist at the same time or two bad things happen one after the other
With the cold weather and the high cost of heating fuel, homeowners were hit with a double whammy this winter.
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Recent Examples of double whammy
The double whammy didn’t keep him down.
—
Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 25 Sep. 2025
Being pregnant and also having cancer is a double whammy.
—Wendy Grossman Kantor, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
Younger Americans, exposed to the double whammy of high student debt and low entry-level hiring, are under even more financial pressure.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
That’s the double whammy at play here.
—Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for double whammy
Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 25 Sep. 2025
Being pregnant and also having cancer is a double whammy.
—Wendy Grossman Kantor, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
Younger Americans, exposed to the double whammy of high student debt and low entry-level hiring, are under even more financial pressure.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
That’s the double whammy at play here.
—Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for double whammy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for double whammy
Noun
-
Zyairr Davis, then 13, was one of three teens arrested in the attack, but not the one who delivered the fatal blow.—
Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Combs has seen a series of blows to his legal case in the past several weeks.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
For people like Wasefi, with sisters and nieces back home, no amount of tourist-friendliness can compensate for this disaster.—
Vidushi Mishti Sharma,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
-
The October 10 disaster killed 16 employees at Accurate Energetic Systems, which makes military and demolition explosives about 60 miles west of Nashville.—
Holly Yan,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But tragedies like these also reflect the vulnerability of this refugee population – with the overall reduction in support causing a cascade effect for those already living on a knife edge of survival.—
Rebecca Wright,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Mistakes, misfortunes, even tragedy, toxic secrets from the past—anything can happen, or may have happened.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Double whammy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/double%20whammy. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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