Unlucky

Definition: Unlucky

Unlucky

Adjective

1. Having or bringing misfortune; "Friday the 13th is an unlucky date".

2. Marked by or promising bad fortune; "their business venture was doomed from the start"; "an ill-fated business venture"; "an ill-starred romance"; "the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons"- W.H.Prescott.

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

Date "unlucky" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1050. (references)

Synonyms: Unlucky

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.

Inexpedience

Unlucky, sinister; obnoxious; untoward, disastrous.

Pain

Unsatisfactory, untoward, unlucky, uncomfortable.

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Adjective: ill-timed, mistimed; ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred; untimely, unseasonable; out of date, out of season; inopportune, timeless, intrusive, untoward, mal a propos, unlucky, inauspicious, infelicitous, unbefitting, unpropitious, unfortunate,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

Well, if we're lucky, it's the Vogon Guard come to throw us into space, If we're unlucky, the Vogon Captian might want to read us some of his poetry first. (The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; writing credit: Douglas Adams; John Lloyd)

I'm a superstitious man , and if some unlucky accident should befall Michael, if he is to be shot in the head by a police officer, or be found hung dead in a jail cell. (The Godfather; writing credit: Francis Ford Coppola; Mario Puzo)

I know, I must have been born under an unlucky star. (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; writing credit: Jerry Adelman; Daniel Gregory Browne)

Whether you'd be rich, or poor; a hero, or a loser; lucky in love, unlucky in life. (Early Edition; writing credit: Joe Bolster)

That is one unlucky guy. (Futurama; writing credit: Lance Smith; Carl Colpaert)

Unlucky Potluck (1972)

His Unlucky Night (1928)

An Unlucky Night at the Browns (1915)

Unlucky Louey (1915)

An Unlucky Lover (1901)

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

Books

• Amanda's Unlucky Day (Junior Gymnasts , No 6) (reference)

• Born Lucky or Unlucky (reference)

• Michelle and Friends: Unlucky in Lunch (Full House Michelle, No 31) (reference)

• Murad the Unlucky and Other Tales (reference)

• Sam Luckless: The Unlucky Lad (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• A Very Unlucky Leprechaun (reference)

• Very Unlucky Leprechaun (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• 13 Unlucky Numbers (reference)

• Unlucky (reference)

• Unlucky Buck (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

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

Yes 13 is an unlucky number. Credit: Library of Congress.

Unlucky number. Credit: Library of Congress.

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

A circumstance rather unlucky occurred.

An unlucky effort, inexpert help, a false push, might crush him.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Economic History

Austria

The unlucky customer who purchases a defective product still cannot expect to bring it back to the store the next day for a replacement (but must wait weeks while the product is shipped for repair), but the mandatory warrantee period has recently been extended from 6 months to 2 years. (references)

Travel

Japan

In Japan, sets of four are considered unlucky (the number four is pronounced the same as the word for death). (references)

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

Expressions using "unlucky": be born under an unlucky star ♦ be unlucky ♦ how unlucky for you! ♦ unlucky creature ♦ unlucky fate ♦ unlucky man ♦ unlucky person ♦ unlucky star ♦ unlucky thing ♦ unlucky wretch. Additional references.

Albanian

pa shans, i pafat (hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, luckless, unblessed, unchancy, unfortunate, unsuccessful, untoward), i mjerë (abject, crummy, desolate, dismal, forlorn, ill fated, ill-starred, infelicitous, lowlife, miserable, paltry, penurious, pimping, piteous, sorry, unhappy, worm), i gjorë (piteous, poor, unfortunate), fatzi (calamitous), fatkeq (calamitous, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy, washout, wretched). (various references)

Arabic 

‏يؤسف له (regrettable, unfortunate), ‏منحوس (ill, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, luckless), ‏مشؤوم (disastrous, ill-omened, inauspicious, ominous, sinister, unfortunate), ‏قليل الحظ (hapless, ill fated, luckless), ‏شؤوم. (various references)

Bulgarian 

нещастен (abject, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, lack-all, lorn, poor, sick, unblessed, unchancy, unfortunate, unhappy, woeful, wretched), злощастен (infelicitous, untoward), злополучен (hapless, infelicitous, unfortunate), без късмет (fortuneless). (various references)

Chinese 

晦 (dark, night), 不幸 (Abject, hapless, misfortune, unfortunate, unhappiness). (various references)

Czech

zlovìstný (baleful, black, fateful, inauspicious, ominous, portentous, sinister, spooky, uncanny), smolný (pitchy), nevhodný (clumsy, ill timed, impolitic, improper, inadequate, inadvisable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incongruous, inconvenient, ineligible, inexpedient, inopportune, misbecoming, off-key, unappropriated, unapt, unbecoming, uncalled for, undesirable, undue, unfit, unlikely, unseasonable, unseemly, unsuitable, untimely), nemít štìstí, neblahý (baleful, calamitous, dire, fateful, hapless, harmful, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, ominous, sinister, unfortunate), neúspìšný (failed, flop, ineffective, ineffectual, unfortunate, unsuccessful), mít smùlu, mít pech, èerný (black, dark, ghoulish, grimy, illegal, illicit). (various references)

Farsi 

تیره بخت (Miserable), شوم (Dire, Ghastly, Grim, Inauspicious, Infelicitous, Ominous), بخت برگشته , بدیمن (Ominous, Sinister), بدشگون (Ominous, Sinister). (various references)

Finnish

poloinen (poor, wretched), onneton (unfortunate, unhappy), kovaosainen (hapless), huonoonninen (ill-fated). (various references)

French

malchanceux (unhappy). (various references)

German

unglücklich (hapless, ill fated, inauspicious, infelicitous, miserable, miserably, sad, unfortunate, unfortunately, unhappily, unhappy, unjoyous, unluckily, unrequited, unsuccessful, untoward). (various references)

Greek 

κακότυχοσ (hoodoo, ill fated, jinx, luckless, unfortunate), άτυχοσ (Jonah, luckless, unfortunate). (various references)

Hebrew 

ביש מזל (luckless, unfortunate, untoward), ביש �'�"א (star-crossed). (various references)

Hungarian

peches (down on one's luck, luckless, stiff, to be down on one's luck, unfortunate). (various references)

Indonesian

sial (inopportune, misfortune, ominous), malang (baleful, down, hapless, poor). (various references)

Italian

disgraziato (hapless, miserable, sorrowful, unfortunate, unhappy, woeful, woesome, wretch, wretched). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

拙い (clumsy, foolish, unskillful). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

ふう�" (bad luck, fate, misfortune), つたない (clumsy, foolish, unskillful), アンラッキー . (various references)

Korean 

불길한 (inauspicious, sinister). (various references)

Luganda

eky'omukisa (the unlucky thing). (various references)

Pig Latin

uckyunlay

Portuguese

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

Romanian

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, unfortunate, unwelcome, vexatious, vexing), neplãcut (acrid, annoying, bad, beastly, bothersome, brackish, dark, disagreeable, dreadful, forbidding, hard, horrid, ill-favored, ill-favoured, nasty, niggling, objectionable, obnoxious, obnoxiously, offensive, offensively, provoking, snuffy, sorry, ugly, unpleasant, unsavory, unsavoury, unwelcome), nenorocos (hapless, ill, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, unfortunate, unhappy), nefericit (ill fated, infelicitous, miserable, unfortunate, unhappy, wretch, wretched), mizerabil (abject, despicable, dirty, godforsaken, grovelling, miserable, miserably, pitiable, villainous, wretch, wretched), ghinionist (failure, lame duck, luckless, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky man), biet (miserable, piteous, poor, unfortunate). (various references)

Russian 

несчастливый (ill fated, ill-fated, infelicitous, luckless, unfortunate, unhappy), неудачный (abortive, failed, infelicitous, unchancy, unfortunate, unsuccessful, untoward). (various references)

Scottish

toisgeal (reward for finding a lost thing, the left, unpropitious : an l� mh thoisgeal). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

zlosrećan (ill fated, ill-starred), nesrećan (calamitous, down in the mouth, fortuneless, graceless, inauspicious, infelicitous, miserable, unchancy, unfortunate, unhappy), nepovoljan (unfavorable, unfavourable, unfortunate, ungracious, untoward). (various references)

Spanish

pavoso, nefasto (disastrous, poisonous), infeliz (infelicitous, unfortunate, unhappy, unsuccessful, wretch, wretched), infausto (ill fated, infaust, unhappy), desventurado (hapless, timid, troubled, unfortunate), desgraciado (clumsy, loser, miserable, poor, sad sack, schlemiel, skate, unfortunate, unhandily, unhappy, unskillful, wretch), desafortunado (fortuneless, luckless), aciago (fateful, ill fated, malign, portentous, sinister). (various references)

Swedish

oturliga, olycklig (afflicted, distressed, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, unfortunate, unhappy, untoward, wretched). (various references)

Turkish

uğursuz (accursed, accurst, baleful, black, bloody, demon, dire, evil, fateful, hoodoo, ill fated, ill-omened, inauspicious, ominous, portentous, sinister, untoward), tâlihsiz (cursed, disastrous, down on one's luck, evil, grief-stricken, hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, star-crossed, unfortunate), meymenetsiz (inauspicious, sinister), başarısız (abortive, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, unfortunate, unfruitful, unsuccessful), şanssız (distressed, down on one's luck, evil, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, luckless, out of luck, star-crossed, unfortunate, unhappy, 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, unfortunate, unhappy, untoward, wrongheaded). (various references)

Ukrainian

гідний жалю, невдалий (abortive, awry, bad, failed, ineffectual, infelicitous, lame, nasty, naughty, unfortunate, unhappy, wide), зловісний (augural, bodeful, dire, disastrous, fateful, grim, inauspicious, ominous, oracular, oraculous, portentous, sinister, sinistrous). (various references)

Vietnamese 

xúi, rủi (baleful, ill-fated, unchancy, unhappy), khốn khổ không tốt, không may (baleful, hapless, inauspicious, luckless, unchancy, unfortunate, untoward), không hay (unaware, unhappy, uninformed, uninteresting, unknowing), gở không đúng lúc, đen đủi khổ sở. (various references)

Welsh

anlwcus, anhapus (unhappy). (various references)

ater, atriorum, infelices, infelix, infortunatus, mala, malae, malam, malas, mali, malis, malo, malorum, malos, malum, malumque, malus, niger, nigra, nigrae, nigri, nigrum, peior, peiora, peius, pessima, pessimae, pessimam, pessimarum, pessimas, pessime, pessimi, pessimis, pessimo, pessimorum, pessimos, pessimum, pessimus. (various references)

Misspellings

"Unlucky" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Dunluskin, Munlochy, nubuck, unluky. (additional references)

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

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: clunky.

-2 letters: clunk, lucky.

-3 letters: luck, lunk, luny, yuck.

-4 letters: ulu, yuk.

-5 letters: nu, un.

+2 letters: unluckily.

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