total patzer
- noun
- /ˈtoʊtəl ˈpætsər/
- Offensive
:
inútil
- Despite practicing for years, she still considers herself a total patzer at chess.
Examples
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He realized he was a total patzer after losing every match in the tournament.
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I'm a total patzer when it comes to playing bridge with my friends.
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He is a complete total patzer at chess!
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Many beginners are total patzers when they start playing.
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Despite practicing for years, she still considers herself a total patzer at chess.
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He realized he was a total patzer after losing every match in the tournament.
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I'm a total patzer when it comes to playing bridge with my friends.
Synonyms
3
7.9
A person who is not good at a sport or other activity
1
9.9
A chess player who plays poorly because they lack skill
A person who is very foolish and bad at what they do
A very foolish person who is bad at doing things
A person who acts very foolishly and cannot do simple tasks
Antonyms
How Skilled
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'total' (complete, utter) simply intensifies 'patzer' (an unskilled/incompetent player), yielding 'entirely unskilled player.' This follows a standard adjective + noun pattern and would be readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Total patzer comes from the word patzer, which one popular story says came from Yiddish and German for a clumsy person or someone who makes big mistakes. Players of chess and other games used patzer for someone who makes many bad moves, so total patzer means 'a very bad or unskilled player'.