noun
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evil fortune; bad luck
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an unfortunate or disastrous event; calamity
Related Words
See affliction.
Etymology
Origin of misfortune
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.
A year after he lampooned a judge in a mocking poem, he had the misfortune of standing before him charged with seditious libel for a pamphlet satirizing the Church.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
Undeterred by his misfortune two holes earlier, Bridgeman began the back nine with a birdie at No. 10 and an eagle at No. 11 to give himself a four-shot cushion.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026
The hard fact is that genius isn’t reserved for the worthy any more than misfortune is reserved for the wicked.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
This is her first medal since Pyeongchang 2018 and follows her Beijing 2022 misfortune, and it matches the medal she won as a teenager at Sochi 2014.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
Mr. Burnside laughs ruefully, as if taking pleasure in Stu’s misfortune.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
