mishap
Americannoun
-
mishaps
plural
noun
-
an unfortunate accident
-
bad luck
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mishap
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at mis- 1, hap 1
Explanation
Don’t cry over spilled milk, it is just a minor mishap — a misfortune. If the surgeon operates on the wrong leg when you go in for knee surgery? Now, that’s a mishap to get upset about. You might assume that hap is short for happening, but it is actually an Old Norse word for "luck." So with mis ("bad") in front of it, it literally means “bad luck.” Mishaps can be accidents of great consequence or minimal consequence. People often say that an event went off “without a mishap,” meaning that it went smoothly. Hopefully this will be the case if you ever get knee surgery.
Vocabulary lists containing mishap
Power Prefix: mis-
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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ACT Vocabulary List
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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:
The toppling of the Kang Kon embarrassed Kim, with at least five officials detained over the mishap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Mercedes have made sure to put an arm around Antonelli whenever there has been a mishap.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Shortly after he and Adrian reminisce about the mishap in Munich, McElwee continues his narration.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
“He’s been out on the bay and through the Golden Gate and down the coast many times without any mishap of any kind.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
I apologized by instinct to him for this mishap which discomforted only me.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
After congratulating the crew on completing thousands of combat missions with “zero casualties, zero flight mishaps, and zero working toilets,” Jost’s Hegseth offered an update on developments back home.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
But the show truly starts when it falls apart with technical mishaps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Despite parking mishaps, robotaxi companies such as Waymo and Tesla say their vehicles are statistically safer than human drivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
There are measures the company has adopted over the years to bolster its platform against myriad vulnerabilities: adopting cybersecurity programs to preempt automated bot accounts, and expanding protections for music festival mishaps.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Similar mishaps have occurred in groves sprayed a month earlier, and residues have been found in the peel of oranges six months after treatment with standard dosages.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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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.
