unlucky

[uhn-luhk-ee]

adjective

unluckier, unluckiest 

1. (of a person) not lucky; lacking good fortune; ill-fated.

2. (of an event or circumstance) inauspicious or characterized by misfortune; ominous.

unlucky

/ ʌnˈlʌkɪ /

adjective

1. characterized by misfortune or failure

   an unlucky person

   an unlucky chance

2. ill-omened; inauspicious

   an unlucky date

3. regrettable; disappointing

4. dialect,  causing trouble; mischievous

Other Word Forms

• unluckily adverb
• unluckiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unlucky¹

First recorded in 1520–30; un- ¹ + lucky ¹

Example Sentences

Debutant was unlucky to be exposed to Jofra Archer in the first innings, then played his part in the sensational run chase.

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Elizabeth Gaskell called the biography she wrote about her friend Charlotte Brontë—which helped cement the novelist’s literary fame—an “unlucky book.”

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Once rid of her and her unlucky charm, he turned and strode off with purpose.

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These included high-speed chariot races, armed gladiators who fought to the death, and the feeding of unlucky people to hungry lions.

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Countless were the times she had read of people caught in frightening circumstances; when things seemed at their most dire, inevitably these unlucky people would be described as having “a shiver run down their spines.”

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Related Words

• hapless 
• miserable 
• tragic 
• unhappy