noun
-
evil fortune; bad luck
-
an unfortunate or disastrous event; calamity
Synonym Usage
See affliction.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of misfortune
Explanation
On a gloomy day, you may feel compelled to list your misfortunes: a broken umbrella, a broken heart, a broken toe. Misfortune means bad luck or the state of having bad luck. Break misfortune into its parts and you get mis- meaning bad and fortune meaning chance or luck. Sometimes it can feel like misfortune follows you. Picture it as a gloomy psychic named "Miss Fortune" who can only see the bad things in your future.
Vocabulary lists containing misfortune
Power Prefix: mis-
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"The Experiment" and "Superstition"
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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:
If Wendy Wasserstein wrote a worse play than “An American Daughter,” I hope I never have the misfortune of seeing it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
At the time of her misfortune, I was book editor of the Los Angeles Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Many note how much of the content has focused on the perpetrators - not the victims - of the crimes, and the inherent exploitation that comes from profiting from other people's misfortune.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
One of those victims, a businesswoman based in the south of France, said her misfortune began by clicking on an ad about investing in oil.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
But she is suffering greatly, and as she’s my servant, my soul would bear the burden of her misfortune.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Back pain, difficult childbirth, dental crowding and sinus infections are not random misfortunes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
But Germany’s misfortunes are also partly homemade, economists say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Russell, 28, cut a forlorn figure afterwards as he contemplated the series of misfortunes that have derailed his season.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
As North Korea’s hagiographers rewrote history, they held American missionaries responsible for the country’s misfortunes, while state-sponsored novels, plays and museums depicted them as jackals who subjected Koreans to vile human experiments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Lizzie was ordinarily so interested in other people’s misfortunes.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
Definitions 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.
