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Showing results for out of luck. Search instead for Out of plumb.
Synonyms

out of luck

Idioms  

  1. Having bad fortune, experiencing a misfortune, as in You're out of luck if you want a copy; we just sold the last one. This expression, first recorded in 1867, assumes that good fortune is a finite quantity that one can run out of. However, it generally applies to more temporary circumstances than being down on one's luck.

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.

If no Roth option is available, workers making over $150,000 in 2025 wanting to make catch-up contributions will be out of luck.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026

A season defined by improbable comebacks looked like it was finally running out of luck.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026

People who were 80 or older on Sept. 1, 2013, were out of luck -- they would never become eligible for the vaccine.

From Science Daily • Dec. 3, 2025

But smaller firms without global presences will be out of luck.

From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025

“Reckon it’s set in for a month, maybe more. But you’re out of luck if you want money from-Stanislaus Grumman, Lee; the man’s dead.”

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

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.