noun
-
evil fortune; bad luck
-
an unfortunate or disastrous event; calamity
Synonym Usage
See affliction.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of misfortune
Explanation
On a gloomy day, you may feel compelled to list your misfortunes: a broken umbrella, a broken heart, a broken toe. Misfortune means bad luck or the state of having bad luck. Break misfortune into its parts and you get mis- meaning bad and fortune meaning chance or luck. Sometimes it can feel like misfortune follows you. Picture it as a gloomy psychic named "Miss Fortune" who can only see the bad things in your future.
Vocabulary lists containing misfortune
Power Prefix: mis-
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"The Experiment" and "Superstition"
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Girl with a Pearl Earring
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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.
Chantal wants to testify so others avoid her misfortune.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
The conflicts of interest and questionably moral options to bet on the misfortune of others has prompted many states to try and rein these platforms in.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
It is also another sign of what is surely England and Tuchel's biggest fear – how can they cope should misfortune befall all-time record goalscorer Kane?
From BBC • May 22, 2026
The demarcation of what counts as misfortune on such sites is arbitrary, murky and movable, ultimately guaranteeing proxy bets that skirt regulatory requirements.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
My lapse in standing was the misfortune of being from the nouveau pauvre side of what passed for an elegant family there in the Pittsburgh of the South.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
