unfortunate
Americanadjective
-
suffering from bad luck.
an unfortunate person.
- Synonyms:
- hapless, unsuccessful
-
unfavorable or inauspicious.
an unfortunate beginning.
-
regrettable or deplorable.
an unfortunate remark.
-
marked by or inviting misfortune.
an unfortunate development.
-
lamentable; sad.
the unfortunate death of her parents.
noun
adjective
-
causing or attended by misfortune
-
unlucky, unsuccessful, or unhappy
an unfortunate character
-
regrettable or unsuitable
an unfortunate speech
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unfortunate
Explanation
Something unfortunate is something that you wished had not happened — like that unfortunate incident that got you suspended from school. Let's not bring that up. Unfortunate can also describe unlucky circumstances. A natural disaster like an earthquake or a tornado will always have unfortunate consequences. You can even use unfortunate as a noun to identify someone or something not favored by fortune — like the unfortunates whose lives were shattered by the earthquake.
Vocabulary lists containing unfortunate
Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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Vocabulary from the Songs of "The Little Mermaid"
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Schooled
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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.
"The unfortunate thing is, it seems like when you figure out one thing the next year, it's something else."
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
Treasury Minister John Mbadi told local NTV station on Monday that the increase in fuel prices was "unfortunate" and acknowledged that it was hurting the economy.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
The unfortunate reality is that mechanical failures are inevitable when U.S. trains collectively travel some 500 million miles a year.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
Maybe you were among the unfortunate 51,048 paying customers who came to watch the Dodgers even their series with the Giants without Ohtani’s help, and you’re sad about it.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
“Not for me, of course, but most people just stopped caring after a while. He was just another story, another unfortunate bit of history.”
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
