lucky
1 Americanadjective
-
luckier,
comparative
-
luckiest
superlative
-
having or marked by good luck; fortunate.
That was my lucky day.
- Synonyms:
- blessed
- Antonyms:
- unfortunate
-
happening fortunately.
a lucky accident.
-
bringing or foretelling good luck, or supposed to do so.
a lucky penny.
- Synonyms:
- favorable, propitious, auspicious
noun
-
luckies
plural
-
a familiar name applied to an elderly woman, especially a grandmother; granny.
-
a familiar name applied to a woman, as one's wife or a barmaid.
adjective
-
having or bringing good fortune
-
happening by chance, esp as desired
Usage
What are other ways to say lucky? Someone or something that is lucky has or is marked by good luck. How is lucky different from happy or fortunate? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of lucky1
First recorded in 1495–1505; luck + -y 1
Origin of lucky2
Explanation
When you're lucky, things work out well for you — you experience good fortune. If you're feeling lucky, it might be a good day to buy a lottery ticket or guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. Lucky people seem to have everything going for them, and your lucky charm (like a rabbit's foot or a four-leaf clover) seems to bring that kind of success in your direction. Some lucky things are happy coincidences: "How lucky that I ran into you this morning!" When you're envious of someone else's big break, you can say, "You lucky devil." Lucky and luck come from the Middle Dutch gheluc, "good fortune."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I feel incredibly lucky to get to play these shows here in New York, and this building means a lot to me," said the artist.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
At the time, he was lucky to catch a fish as big as his palm.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
If they get lucky, Tuyo covers the tab.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Being able to combine the three is something I feel very lucky about.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a mom featured in the business section of the Chicago Tribune.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Even the beloveds, wonderfuls, luckies and so on were all Dones, and the awfuls were Not-Dooes.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Electrical engineer Luca Linhsen is one of the luckier ones -- she took up a job as a software consultant in Hamburg this month.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Kang survived, which made him luckier than others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Pfeiffer: I couldn’t be luckier working for two of the most talented and prolific writers in the history of television.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
As McDermott said, “You control how hard you work, and the harder you work, the luckier you’re going to get.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
The chickens are luckier than we are—most days their crates are brought up on deck and they get fresh air to breathe.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
To follow Alexander was, Mr. Richardson relates, for all but his luckiest generals, ultimately to sacrifice oneself “for another man’s dreams,” namely and tragically, to “break the limits of his humanity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
And the deli guy every Saturday morning would hand me a free slice of American cheese and I was like the luckiest kid in the world.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
It felt like the luckiest thing; I’ll never forget when Bill called me and said that I got it and I truly couldn’t believe it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
Only the luckiest, or best connected, among the accredited investors are invited to participate directly in the funding rounds where companies offer private shares to raise money—like the one OpenAI did earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025
You reach a point where you’re at the bottom of hell, yet you have your arms crossed and a smile on your face, and you feel you’re the luckiest person on earth.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
