Misfall
//mɪsˈfɔːl// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mishap; accident; bad luck; misfortune.
"But alas! an unlooked- for misfall has occurred.""
Verb
- 1 To befall badly or incorrectly; happen unfortunately (to); mishappen; turn out badly. ambitransitive
"Sometime ſhe feared, leaſt ſome hard miſhap / Had him misfalne in his aduenturous queſt; [...]"
Example
More examples"Sometime ſhe feared, leaſt ſome hard miſhap / Had him misfalne in his aduenturous queſt; [...]"
Etymology
From Middle English misfallen, equivalent to mis- + fall. Cognate with Dutch misvallen (“to misfall, miss in falling, displease, miscarry”), German missfallen (“to displease”), Icelandic misfalla (“to misuse”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.