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
- unfortunately adverb
- unfortunateness noun
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.
“As I fell off the stage into the lap of an unfortunate audience member, I said to the full house, ‘I don’t do this,’” he says.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
"It's an amazing career, it's so unfortunate that we don't have the opportunity to join it anymore," they said.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
"I just feel like some things might get more expensive, which is unfortunate, and then the cycle just continues."
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Mr. Sokolov and co-writer Alex Litvak barely bother with scratching out the crudest imaginable dialogue, which is unfortunate because they fancy themselves the creators of a sociopolitical satire along the lines of “Get Out.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
“But such a temper is always an unfortunate variable. It can lead to impulsive behavior.”
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
