Jonah

Definitions

1. A male given name from Hebrew.
2. A person who brings a ship bad luck.
   slang
3. A minor prophet who was cast into the sea and swallowed by a great fish.
4. Any person or object which is deemed to cause bad luck; a jinx.
   broadly, slang
5. A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
6. The 10th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

Equivalents

Examples

“'It's Jonah,' Ted says. Simmy considers this. 'As in the whale?' 'Yep.' 'You know⟳,' Simmy says, 'that people are going to say⟳ that to him for ever more?' 'What? The whale thing?' 'Yes.' Ted shrugs again. 'Well. He'll get⟳ used to it. All names have⟳ got some associations. Anyway, he looks like⟳ a Jonah. And I like⟳ the name⟳ Jonah—' 'Obviously,' Simmy cuts in, 'since you chose it.'”

“So they took up Jonah, and cast⟳ him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.”

“Superstitious sailors regarded a clergyman as an unlucky shipmate, a Jonah whose presence would never be welcome⟳.”

“‘My first agent, and he's dead. It's incredible. I feel⟳ like⟳ a complete⟳ Jonah.’”

CEFR level