Mishappen

//mɪsˈhap(ə)n// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To encounter grief or misfortune. obsolete
  2. 2
    To happen through misfortune. archaic

    "His fearefull friends weare out the wofull night, / Ne dare to weepe, nor seeme to vnderstand / The heauie hap, which on them is alight, / Affraid, least to themselues the like mishappen might."

  3. 3
    To happen ill; fare ill. intransitive

Example

More examples

"His fearefull friends weare out the wofull night, / Ne dare to weepe, nor seeme to vnderstand / The heauie hap, which on them is alight, / Affraid, least to themselues the like mishappen might."

Etymology

From Middle English mishapnen, equivalent to mis- + happen.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.