luckless

[luhk-lis]

See more synonyms for luckless on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having no luck; unfortunate; hapless; ill-fated; turning out or ending disastrously: a luckless venture that ruined many of the investors.

Origin of luckless

First recorded in 1555–65; luck + -less

Related formsluck·less·ly, adverbluck·less·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for luckless

unlucky, doomed, hapless, hopeless, ill-fated, stricken, unfortunate

Examples from the Web for luckless

Contemporary Examples of luckless

Was there ever such a luckless airline as Malaysian Airlines?
Twin Disasters Turn 2014 Into the Year of Flying Dangerously
Clive Irving
July 19, 2014
Born on July 7—a “luckless birthdate” associated with “many undefinable threats”—Devi seems fated for calamity.
This Week’s Hot Reads: May 13, 2013
Mythili Rao, Sarah Stodola
May 13, 2013
Does any member of the cheesy celebrity class get caught more often than the luckless Fergie?
Fergie's Latest Flameout
Tina Brown
May 25, 2010

Historical Examples of luckless

In theology, the state of a luckless mortal prenatally damned.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
I have, indeed, been the luckless victim of wayward follies; but, alas!
The Letters of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Mishap, desertion, and shipwreck pursued the luckless commander.
Introductory American History
Henry Eldridge Bourne
So the luckless Harold was hauled out of bed and given his sailing-orders.
The Golden Age
Kenneth Grahame
From this extremity there is but one means of escape, and one alone, for the luckless prisoner.
The Sportsman
Xenophon

British Dictionary definitions for luckless

luckless

adjective

having no luck; unlucky

Derived Formslucklessly, adverblucklessness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for luckless

adj.

1560s, from luck (n.) + -less. Related: Lucklessly; lucklessness.