mishap
Americannoun
-
mishaps
plural
noun
-
an unfortunate accident
-
bad luck
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mishap
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at mis- 1, hap 1
Explanation
Don’t cry over spilled milk, it is just a minor mishap — a misfortune. If the surgeon operates on the wrong leg when you go in for knee surgery? Now, that’s a mishap to get upset about. You might assume that hap is short for happening, but it is actually an Old Norse word for "luck." So with mis ("bad") in front of it, it literally means “bad luck.” Mishaps can be accidents of great consequence or minimal consequence. People often say that an event went off “without a mishap,” meaning that it went smoothly. Hopefully this will be the case if you ever get knee surgery.
Vocabulary lists containing mishap
Power Prefix: mis-
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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ACT Vocabulary List
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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.
See Examples For:
But the 51-year-old says she did not receive a fair trial, citing problems with evidence, the actions of the prosecution, and an unusual mishap with the jury while they deliberated on their verdicts.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The mishap also comes at an awkward moment for Kentucky’s largest school district.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
It also closed a mishap investigation into the company’s prior launch, which ended in a fiery explosion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
The president later blamed a faulty teleprompter glitch for the mishap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
“There was a little mishap at the funeral,” said Reverend Obertask.
From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo
After congratulating the crew on completing thousands of combat missions with “zero casualties, zero flight mishaps, and zero working toilets,” Jost’s Hegseth offered an update on developments back home.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
The author of “Lost in Curiosity” on tales of lab mishaps, fieldwork adventures and personal sacrifices in the pursuit of good data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
But the show truly starts when it falls apart with technical mishaps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
"Wooden boats have served their time, but they cannot be the future of water transport in Nigeria. The tragic mishaps we continue to witness are a direct consequence of the continued reliance on unsafe vessels."
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
These unfortunate mishaps notwithstanding, we wizards may congratulate ourselves on a job well done.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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.
