Unfortunate

Definition: Unfortunate

Unfortunate

Adjective

1. Not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune; "an unfortunate turn of events"; "an unfortunate decision"; "unfortunate investments"; "an unfortunate night for all concerned".

2. Not auspicious; boding ill.

3. Unsuitable or regrettable; "an unfortunate choice of words"; "an unfortunate speech".

Noun

1. A person who suffers misfortune.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "unfortunate" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Dream Interpretation

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Unfortunate

Adversity

Adjective: unfortunate, unblest, unhappy, unlucky; improsperous, unprosperous; hoodooed; luckless, hapless; out of luck; in trouble, in a bad way, in an evil plight; under a cloud; clouded; ill off, badly off; in adverse circumstances; poor; behindhand, down in the world, decayed, undone; on the road to ruin, on its last legs, on the wane; in one's utmost need.

Failure

Adjective: unsuccessful, successless; failing, tripping;Verb: at fault; unfortunate.

Libertine

Adulteress, advoutress, courtesan, prostitute, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie; woman, woman of the town; streetwalker, Cyprian, miss, piece; frail sisterhood; demirep, wench, trollop, trull, baggage, hussy, drab, bitch, jade, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, minx, harridan; unfortunate, unfortunate female, unfortunate woman; woman of easy virtue; (unchaste); wanton, fornicatress; Jezebel, Messalina, Delilah, Thais, Phryne, Aspasia, Lais, lorette, cocotte, petite dame, grisette; demimonde; chippy; sapphist; spiritual wife; white slave.

Pain

Unfortunate; (hapless); to be pitied, doomed, devoted, accursed, undone, lost, stranded; fey.

Untimeliness

Adjective: ill-timed, mistimed; ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred; untimely, unseasonable; out of date, out of season; inopportune, timeless, intrusive, untoward, mal a propos, unlucky, inauspicious, infelicitous, unbefitting, unpropitious, unfortunate, unfavorable; unsuited; inexpedient.

Crosswords: Unfortunate

Good, because it would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; writing credit: George Lucas; Leigh Brackett)

Poor unfortunate girl (Strangers on a Train; writing credit: Raymond Chandler; Whitfield Cook)

Well how unfortunate for you because that's exactly what I'm going to do (Oliver Twist; writing credit: Alan Bleasdale; Charles Dickens)

Most unfortunate. A diode blew in one of the life support computers (The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; writing credit: Douglas Adams; John Lloyd)

I do apologize ladies and gentlemen, events do seem to have taken a most unfortunate turn (School for Scoundrels; writing credit: Hal E. Chester; Patricia Moyes)

The Unfortunate Bride (1932)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• A Library of Unfortunate Events (Books 1-9: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival) [Shrink Wrapped] (reference)

• The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 7) (reference)

• A Library of Unfortunate Events (Books 1-9: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival) [BOX SET] (reference)

• The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 3) (reference)

• The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• The Unfortunate Rake, Vol. 1 (reference)

• Unfortunate Cup of Tea [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. An unfortunate squid on the dock after being caught. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).

The unfortunate "barb" who is left to the promiscuous friendships of the cheap boarding house. Credit: Library of Congress.

Cartoon, on poverty in New York City, showing man, labeled "deserving, but out of work," standing in snowstorm looking at sign marked "police station lodging for unfortunate wayfarers, closed by order of T. Roosevelt". Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

The examples of particular injustice, or oppression of here and there an unfortunate man, moves them not. (Second Treatise of Government)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

The driver ran out to his assistance, and he and I together raised the unfortunate cyclist and carried him into the shop

Never had the two ideas that governed the unfortunate man whose sufferings we are relating, engaged in so serious a struggle

We are an unfortunate priestridden race and always were and always will be the end of the chapter

In the mean time I here conclude the second part of my unfortunate voyages

Listen to every zephyr for some reproof, for it is surely there, and he is unfortunate who does not hear it.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

This is unfortunate, because diapering can lead to diminished self-esteem, as well as skin irritation and sores. (references)

The social isolation is unfortunate but may be reduced because treatment can improve bowel control and make incontinence easier to manage. (references)

Business

Also, after the unfortunate hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu, the GoI plans to buy sophisticated security equipment for all airports. (references)

An unfortunate result of this rapid change is that ecologically sound means for disposing of old cars have not kept pace. Piles of old cars are getting higher every year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. (references)

Economic History

Bolivia

As a result of lower export prices, unfortunate weather conditions and an international financial crisis in the region, economic growth declined and registered negative annual per capita income growth. (references)

Minorities

Hungary

After several failed attempts to register a complaint with the police, one of the Rom took a hidden camera to the police station and recorded the police officer threatening to beat him and stating that it was unfortunate he had not been killed during the incident. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "unfortunate": be unfortunate ♦ be unfortunate in life ♦ how very unfortunate for you ♦ unfortunate habit ♦ unfortunate person. Additional references.

Beginning with "unfortunate": unfortunate-looking.

Albanian

lumëmadh (unhappy), i zi (black, bold, coaly, darksome, ebon, ebony, inky, mourning, nigrescent, pitchy, Raven, sable, sooty), i pavend (Amiss, improper, inappropriate, indiscreet, inept, inopportune, irrelevant, off-key, preposterous, unbecoming, uncalled for, unjust, unplaced), i pasuksesshëm (abortive, ineffective, unsuccessful), i pafat (hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, luckless, unblessed, unchancy, unlucky, unsuccessful, untoward), i ngratë (poor), i mjeruar (deplorable, wretched), i gjorë (piteous, poor, unlucky), fatkeq (calamitous, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, miserable, unhappy, unlucky, washout, wretched). (various references)

Arabic 

‏يؤسف له (regrettable, unlucky), ‏مشؤوم (disastrous, ill-omened, inauspicious, ominous, sinister, unlucky), ‏غير ملائم (awkward, awkwardly, clumsy, disadvantageous, inadequate, inapplicable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incommensurate, inconvenient, inept, unfriendly, unhandy, unseemly, unsuitable, untidy, untimely), ‏تعيس (miserable, poor thing, unhappy, wretched), ‏سئ الحظ (infelicitous), ‏المنبوذ (castaway, outcast), ‏التعيس (miserable, wretch), ‏بائس (afflicted, cheerless, deplorable, desolate, devil, disconsolate, distressed, forlorn, godforsaken, hapless, heel, helpless, lamentable, measly, miserable, paltry, pathetic, penurious, piteous, pitiful, poor, poverty stricken, ratty, sad, scruffy, seedy, sickly, sordid, squalid, unhappy, woeful, wretched). (various references)

Bulgarian 

неуместен (ill-judged, impertinent, improper, inapposite, inappropriate, incongruous, inconsequent, inept, inexpedient, injudicious, inopportune, irrelevant, mistaken, out of place, unadvised, uncalled for, unseasonable, unsuitable), несполучлив (dud, fortuneless, ineffectual, unhappy), нещастник (bastard, wretch), нещастен (abject, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, lack-all, lorn, poor, sick, unblessed, unchancy, unhappy, unlucky, woeful, wretched), злочест (hapless, ill fated, miserable, star-crossed, unhappy, woebegone, wretched), злополучен (hapless, infelicitous, unlucky), бездомник (outcast, waif), проститутка (doxy, drab, fancy girl, fancy woman, harlot, hooker, night bird, night walker, prostitute, punk, scarlet woman, strumpet, tart, tootsy, tramp, trollop, trot, trull, wench, whore). (various references)

Chinese 

不幸 (adversity, misfortune, sad, unfortunately). (various references)

Czech

nechvalný, neblahý (baleful, calamitous, dire, fateful, hapless, harmful, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, ominous, sinister, unlucky), neúspìšný (failed, flop, ineffective, ineffectual, unlucky, unsuccessful). (various references)

Dutch

ongelukkige. (various references)

Esperanto

malfeliĉulo. (various references)

Farsi 

مایه تاسف , ناشی ازبدبختی , بدبخت (Gray, Infelicitous, Miserable, Sorry, Unblessed, Unblest, Unhappy, Woeful, Wretch, Wretched). (various references)

Finnish

valitettava (deplorable, regrettable), onneton (unhappy, unlucky), ikävä (boredom, dull, longing, regret, tedious, tedium, tiresome, uninteresting, unpleasant). (various references)

French

malheureux (unhappy, unlucky). (various references)

German

unglückselig (disastrous, fated, hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, lamentable, lamentably, miserable, unlucky), unglückliche (accidental, haplessly, unlucky). (various references)

Greek 

κακότυχοσ (hoodoo, ill fated, jinx, luckless, unlucky), άμοιροσ (hapless), άτυχοσ (Jonah, luckless, unlucky), ατυχήσ (hapless, infelicitous, unhappy), δυστυχής. (various references)

Hebrew 

מסכן (hapless, miserable, pitiful, poor, poor thing, wretched), אמל (anamel, unhappy), אמול (depressed, wretched), אומלל (disconsolate, feeble, hapless, miserable, poor, unhappy, wretched), חסר מזל (luckless, star-crossed), ביש מזל (luckless, unlucky, untoward). (various references)

Hungarian

szerencsétlen (calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous, fey, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, luckless, misadventurous, miserable, sad, star-crossed, stiff, to sink money in an unfortunate undertaking, unchancy, unhappy, unlucky, untoward, woeful, woesome, wretched), peches (down on one's luck, luckless, stiff, to be down on one's luck, unlucky). (various references)

Indonesian

sungguh sial. (various references)

Italian

sventurato (unlucky), sfortunato (hapless, ill fated, luckless, unlucky, unsuccessful), povero (abject, arm, bare, beggarly, dismal, indigent, meager, meagre, miserable, needy, poor, poor man, wretched), misero (abject, dismal, forlorn, meager, mean, miserable, narrow, poor, poverty stricken, scanty, spare, squalid, wretched), disgraziato (hapless, miserable, sorrowful, unhappy, unlucky, woeful, woesome, wretch, wretched). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

お�"�憎さま (unfortunate person), 悪縁 (evil destiny or connection, unfortunate love), 係り合い (unfortunate relationship). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

おあいにくさま (that's too bad, unfortunate person), かかりあい (involvement, unfortunate relationship), あくえ�" (evil destiny or connection, unfortunate love). (various references)

Korean 

불운한 (hapless). (various references)

Manx

meehaghyrtagh, meefortanagh (ill-fated, ill-starred), mee-aighar, drogh-aighagh (ill-natured, malicious, malignant), donney (bad, bad of food, calamitous, ill-advised, inauspicious, very ill, woeful). (various references)

Pig Latin

ortunateunfay.(various references)

Portuguese

infeliz (devoted, disastrous, evil, hapless, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, jonah, luckless, sorrowful, unblessed, unhappy, unluckily, unlucky, unsuccessful, wretch, wretched), desgraçado (abject, miserable, poor, unblessed, unlucky, woeful, woesome, wretch, wretched). (various references)

Romanian

trist (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, darkish, depressing, dispirited, doleful, dolefully, dolorous, downcast, drab, dreary, dull, dumpish, elegiac, glum, joyless, lamenting, maudlin, melancholy, miserable, mournful, mournfully, pensive, pensively, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, splenetic, sullen, tough, unhappy, woebegone, woeful), supãrãtor (annoying, bad, bothersome, disappointing, dreadful, grating, hurtful, importunate, inconvenient, inopportune, intrusively, invidious, irksome, irritating, irritatingly, jumpy, mischief-makering, niggling, obtrusively, painful, provoking, provokingly, tedious, troublesome, unlucky, unwelcome, vexatious, vexing), regretabil (deplorable, grievous, lamentable, lamenting, regrettable, sad, unhappy, wretched), prostituatã (call girl, chippy, doxy, drab, harlot, Moll, prostitute, strumpet, whore), oropsit (forsaken, ground-down, homeless, lorn, persecuted, tormented, tortured), nenorocos (hapless, ill, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, unhappy, unlucky), nenorocit (abject, baleful, disastrous, forlorn, grievous, grub, hapless, lame duck, mean, measly, miser, miserable, pilgarlic, rascal, rotten, sad, scullion, unhappy, wretch, wretched), nefericit (ill fated, infelicitous, miserable, unhappy, unlucky, wretch, wretched), ghinionist (failure, lame duck, luckless, unhappy, unlucky, unlucky man), chinuit (agitated, overdone, over-elaborate, uneasy, worried, wretched), biet (miserable, piteous, poor, unlucky). (various references)

Russian 

неудачный (abortive, failed, infelicitous, unchancy, unlucky, unsuccessful, untoward). (various references)

Scottish

mì-fhortanach. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

neuspešan (bad job, fizzy, ineffectual, inefficacious, unsuccessful), nesretan (distressful, distressing, hapless, unhappy), nesrećan (calamitous, down in the mouth, fortuneless, graceless, inauspicious, infelicitous, miserable, unchancy, unhappy, unlucky), nepovoljan (unfavorable, unfavourable, ungracious, unlucky, untoward). (various references)

Spanish

inoportuno (ill-time, inconvenient, inexpedient, inopportune, irrelevant, unfitting, unhappy, unpassable, unseasonable, untimely, wrong), infortunado, infeliz (infelicitous, unhappy, unlucky, unsuccessful, wretch, wretched), funesto (baleful, baneful, black, disastrous, evil, fatal, fell, ill fated, pernicious), desventurado (hapless, timid, troubled, unlucky), desgraciado (clumsy, loser, miserable, poor, sad sack, schlemiel, skate, unhandily, unhappy, unlucky, unskillful, wretch), desdichado (hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, miserable, unhappy, wretched). (various references)

Swedish

olycklig (afflicted, distressed, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, unhappy, unlucky, untoward, wretched), beklaglig (deplorable, pitiable, regrettable). (various references)

Tagalog

kasamaang. (various references)

Turkish

tâlihsiz (cursed, disastrous, down on one's luck, evil, grief-stricken, hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, star-crossed, unlucky), mutsuz (infelicitous, joyless, unhappy, woebegone), bahtsız (down on one's luck, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated), başarısız (abortive, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, unfruitful, unlucky, unsuccessful), şanssız kimse, şanssız (distressed, down on one's luck, evil, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, luckless, out of luck, star-crossed, unhappy, unlucky, unsuccessful, untoward), aksi (adverse, awkward, bad tempered, bilious, bloody minded, cantankerous, contra, contra-, contrary, counter, crabbed, crabby, cross, cross-grained, crosspatch, crotchety, doggish, dour, evil, fractious, fretful, Froward, gruff, ill natured, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, inverse, negatory, opposite, peevish, perverse, petulant, recalcitrant, refractory, reverse, shirty, snappish, snuffy, spleenful, spleenish, stroppy, stubborn, sullen, surly, tart, testy, unfavorable, unfavourable, unhappy, unlucky, untoward, wrongheaded). (various references)

Turkmen 

gцrgьli (unfortunate person). (various references)

Ukrainian

нещасний (abject, disastrous, poor, sinister, wretched), невдаха (dud, fail, flop, loser, might-have-been, misfit, never-was, underdog, washout), невдалий (abortive, awry, bad, failed, ineffectual, infelicitous, lame, nasty, naughty, unhappy, unlucky, wide), природжений ідіот, повія (baggage, bawd, call girl, cat, chippy, harlot, jilt, quean, streetwalker, strumpet, trollop, wagtail, whore, witch). (various references)

Vietnamese 

rủi ro (hapless, inauspicious, luckless), người không may, người bất hạnh (devil), người bạc mệnh, không may (baleful, hapless, inauspicious, luckless, unchancy, unlucky, untoward), bất như ý; tai hại, bất hạnh đáng bu�"n, đáng tiếc (regrettable). (various references)

Welsh

trwch (broken, wicked), anhylwydd, anffodus. (various references)

conclamate, infelices, infelix, infortunatus, misellus, miser, misera, miseram, miseri, miseris, misero, miseros, miserrima. (various references)

heardlice. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "unfortunate": unfortunately, unfortunates. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Unfortunate" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: unfortuanate, unfortuneate, unfoutunate. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: fortunate.

-3 letters: unornate.

-4 letters: entrant, fenuron, fortune, neutron, outearn, outrate, outturn, tartufe, taunter, tonneau, turnout.

-5 letters: atoner, attorn, attune, auteur, fanner, fatten, fatter, funner, furane, future, natron, natter, nature, neuron, nonart, nonfat, notate, nutant, nutate, nutter, ornate, outate, outeat, outran, outrun, ratten, ratton, rotate, rotten, runout, tanner, tauten, tauter, tenant, tenour, tenuto, tonner, torten.

+1 letter: unfortunates.

+2 letters: unfortunately.