hapless
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hapless
Explanation
Use the adjective hapless to describe someone unlucky and deserving of pity, like the hapless car buyer who gives in to the fast-talking salesperson. The word hapless traces all the way back to the Old Norse word happ, meaning “chance, good luck.” Combine this with the suffix -less (“lacking”) and hapless means “unlucky” or “ill-fated.” A traveler who goes to Moscow and briefly gets lost on the subway? Just a tourist. A traveler who goes to Moscow, accidentally eats food he is allergic to, somehow loses all his money, and by chance gets on a train destined for Mongolia? Definitely hapless.
Vocabulary lists containing hapless
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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Stargirl
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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.
Hapless vacationers, unprepared for the mountain conditions, are often turned away.
From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2023
It starts with a requisitely strange and solid premise: Hapless 20-something Jamie Hawthorne makes headlines while committing a petty crime at work.
From Washington Post • Jul. 5, 2022
Hapless investors faced years of grueling litigation by a court-appointed trustee who was tasked with “clawing back” what turned out to be fictitious profits they withdrew from their Madoff accounts.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2021
Hapless fans however, got Rickrolled once they clicked on the link.
From Time • Jul. 25, 2016
Hard enough crossin’ the run from Hapless Harbor.
From Every Man for Himself by Duncan, Norman
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.
