ill-fated
Americanadjective
-
destined, as though by fate, to an unhappy or unfortunate end.
an ill-fated voyage.
- Synonyms:
- ill-starred, doomed, cursed, accursed
-
bringing bad fortune.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of ill-fated
First recorded in 1700–10
Explanation
If you have terrible luck, you're ill-fated. An ill-fated plan to drive across the country might end with your old car breaking down in Kansas. An ill-fated day is one you remember for years as extremely unlucky, and an ill-fated decision, in retrospect, was a really bad choice. An ill-fated attempt at tightrope walking results in falling off over and over again, and an ill-fated choice of lunch in a foreign country might end in food poisoning. Ill-fated is rooted in ill-, "badly," and fated, "be destined to happen," from the Latin fatum, "that which has been spoken."
Vocabulary lists containing ill-fated
Blood on the River
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Pre-AP Theatre
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Far from the Tree
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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.
Researchers have identified four additional sailors from Sir John Franklin's ill-fated 1845 Arctic expedition, including one man whose identity had remained the subject of debate for more than a century.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Hernández avenged his ill-fated inside-the-park home run attempt — he was thrown out at the plate on an aggressive send two innings earlier — with a well-struck RBI single.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The amount in damages that creditors are seeking from former Enviva executives after a series of ill-fated wood-pellet trades bankrupted the green-energy giant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Alicante gives it ill-fated monuments and exuberant crowds.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
A little more than a year after their wedding, Alfred was attending the ill-fated Christmas party where Frank was killed.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
