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
-
unfortunates
plural
adjective
-
causing or attended by misfortune
-
unlucky, unsuccessful, or unhappy
an unfortunate character
-
regrettable or unsuitable
an unfortunate speech
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
But when that is the case, renting isn’t always an unfortunate necessity.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
The discount tags have been placed, carefully it seems to me, directly over the Taylor Farms logo, giving the display the slightly furtive quality of merchandise that has recently acquired an unfortunate reputation.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Kris is also a bit of a nervous wreck, though the character is scripted with an unfortunate mix of pedestrian mumbliness and tin-eared therapeutic explication that Ms. Einbinder struggles to transcend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
It’s unfortunate that Dr. Oz and his colleagues can’t appreciate what it means for someone living mostly on Social Security.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
I used to mock unfortunate outfits or bad hairstyles right along with Skye and Madi.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
“Bounteous Los Angeles saw to it yesterday that the unfortunates within her gates had reason to be thankful for at least one plate of hot, steaming turkey fit for a king,” a 1935 story said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2019
The bus stopped for the last few unfortunates, and Westerband cajoled them through the door, even as they tried to remonstrate with him.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2019
If the name maketh the man, then surely Zambia's notoriously grim prisons are full of unfortunates who've been saddled with names like Chidano, Mapenzi and Chananga - that's "hatred", "trouble" and "wrongdoer" respectively?
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2017
These unfortunates as well as my group were all saved by the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, or ICE-SAR.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2014
It would be Milligan’s task to lead the search for all the unfortunates who had ever set foot upon Nomansan Island; it would be Mr. Benedict’s to restore their memories.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
