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Showing results for out of luck. Search instead for Out of plumb.
Synonyms

out of luck

Idioms  

  1. Having bad fortune, experiencing a misfortune, as in You're out of luck if you want a copy; we just sold the last one. This expression, first recorded in 1867, assumes that good fortune is a finite quantity that one can run out of. However, it generally applies to more temporary circumstances than being down on one's luck.

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.

Multiple cast members have confirmed some version of the same thing: if you were late to breakfast, you were out of luck.

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2026

If you hadn’t already purchased a travel-insurance policy before this week’s events, you are likely out of luck.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

"The only industries still hiring are hospitality and healthcare. If you don't want to work at a bar or in health care, you're out of luck."

From Barron's • Dec. 3, 2025

People who were 80 or older on Sept. 1, 2013, were out of luck -- they would never become eligible for the vaccine.

From Science Daily • Dec. 3, 2025

If the business died, we’d really be out of luck.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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.