mishap
Americannoun
noun
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an unfortunate accident
-
bad luck
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.
Mishap No. 4: With the game still tied at 10-10, the Huskies again lost the ball on the snap, which Colorado recovered on Washington’s 12.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 20, 2021
A two-sentence story published four days later in The New York Times under the headline "Dylan Hurt in Cycle Mishap" said he was under a doctor's care.
From US News • Jul. 28, 2016
He steps into the chute wearing a white stetson and mounts a bull called Mishap.
From The Guardian • Jan. 25, 2016
Finally, it was also the Mishap Mission Commander’s first flight as a newly qualified certifier who was just completing his second month of his first MC-12W deployment.
From Time • Oct. 30, 2013
Mishap the first: Mrs. Brooks Cunninghame had fainted and been called "Bridget," before company.
From The Coward A Novel of Society and the Field in 1863 by Morford, Henry
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.
