Unfortunate

//ʌnˈfɔː.t͡ʃə.nɪt// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An unlucky person; one who has fallen into bad circumstances.

    "Of those adults who used the trains every day, about half now travel daily by bus, [...] one unfortunate is reported to be walking to and from his employment."

  2. 2
    a person who suffers misfortune wordnet
  3. 3
    A prostitute. archaic, euphemistic
Adjective
  1. 1
    Not favored by fortune.

    "Thus ended the life of one of the most unfortunate of small railway concerns."

  2. 2
    Marked or accompanied by or resulting in misfortune.

    "But as the tower and towee reached the cross-roads again, another car, negligently driven, came round the corner, hit the Morris, and severed the tow rope, sending the unfortunate car back again into the shop window[…]"

  3. 3
    Regrettable or unsuitable.
Adjective
  1. 1
    not auspicious; boding ill wordnet
  2. 2
    unsuitable or regrettable wordnet
  3. 3
    not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
calamitousinauspiciousinfelicitousregrettableunluckyunsuccessful

Example

More examples

"There was an unfortunate incident at home."

Etymology

From un- + fortunate, doublet of infortunate.

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