misfortune

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ fortune.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈfɔːtʃuːn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

misfortune (countable and uncountable, plural misfortunes)

1. (uncountable) Bad luck.

   The worst tour I have ever had the misfortune to experience.

   • 2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track”, in in Guardian Unlimited‎:

     Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.

   • 1876, Ulysses S. Grant, Annual Message:

     It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training.

2. (countable) An undesirable event such as an accident.

   She had to come to terms with a number of misfortunes.

   • 1839, Charles Robert Darwin, “Chapter X”, in The Voyage of the Beagle:

     The snowstorm, which was the cause of their misfortune, happened in the middle of January, corresponding to our July, and in the latitude of Durham!

Synonyms

• (bad luck): mishap, misluck, mischance, ill luck, hard luck, tough luck, luckless
• (undesirable event): adversity

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “bad luck”): luck, good luck, fortune, good fortune
• (antonym(s) of “undesirable event”): fortuity

Derived terms

• soldier of misfortune

Related terms

• misfortunate

Translations

bad luck

Arabic: بَلاء (balāʔ), سُوءُ الحَظّ (sūʔu l-ḥaẓẓ) Belarusian: няшча́сце n (njaščáscje), го́ра (be) n (hóra), лі́ха n (líxa), бяда́ (be) f (bjadá) Bulgarian: неща́стие (bg) n (neštástie), неуда́ча (bg) f (neudáča) Catalan: desgràcia (ca) f, mala sort f Cherokee: ᎤᏲ ᎢᏳᏓᎵᏍᏓᏁᏗ (uyo iyudalisdanedi) Chichewa: tsoka Chinese: Mandarin: 壞運氣／坏运气 (huài yùnqì), 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng) Czech: smůla (cs) f, pech (cs) m (colloquial), neštěstí (cs) n Danish: ulykke (da) c Dutch: ongeluk (nl) n, pech (nl) m Estonian: ebaõnn Finnish: epäonni (fi) French: malchance (fr) f Georgian: ფათერაკი (ka) (pateraḳi), უბედურება (ubedureba), მარცხი (marcxi) German: Pech (de) n, Ungemach (de) n Greek: ατυχία (el) f (atychía), κακοτυχία (el) f (kakotychía) Ancient: δυστυχία (dustukhía) Hindi: दुर्भाग्य (hi) m (durbhāgya) Hungarian: balszerencse (hu) Indonesian: kesialan (id) Irish: amarrán m, mí-ádh m, drochrath m, mífhortún m Old Irish: dodcad m Italian: malasorte (it) Japanese: 不運 (ja) (ふうん, fuun) Korean: 불운(不運) (ko) (burun), 불행(不幸) (ko) (bulhaeng) Latin: adversa n pl, infortūnium n Latvian: nelaime f, neveiksme f Lithuanian: nelaimė f Macedonian: несреќа f (nesreḱa) Malayalam: നിർഭാഗ്യം (niṟbhāgyaṁ) Maori: kōtua, kōtuatanga, aituā Norwegian: Bokmål: ulykke (no) m or f Occitan: malastre (oc), malparat (oc), desfortuna (oc) f Persian: بَدشانسی (fa) (badšânsi), بَدبَختی (fa) (badbaxti) Plautdietsch: Onjlekj n Polish: pech (pl) m, nieszczęście (pl) n Portuguese: azar (pt), má sorte f Romanian: ghinion (ro) n, neșansă (ro) f Russian: неуда́ча (ru) f (neudáča), несча́стье (ru) n (nesčástʹje), го́ре (ru) n (góre), беда́ (ru) f (bedá) Scottish Gaelic: mì-àdh m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: нѐсрећа f Roman: nèsreća f Slovak: smola (sk) f, nešťastie n Slovene: smóla (sl) f, nesreča (sl) f Spanish: infortunio (es) m, gafe (es) m, mala suerte f, desgracia (es) f, desventura (es) f Swedish: olycka (sv) c Tajik: бадбахтӣ (tg) (badbaxti) Telugu: దురదృష్టము (te) (duradr̥ṣṭamu) Ukrainian: неща́стя (uk) n (neščástja), го́ре n (hóre), біда́ (uk) f (bidá), невда́ча f (nevdáča), ли́хо (uk) n (lýxo) Volapük: mifät (vo)

an undesirable event such as an accident

Albanian: fatkeqësi (sq) f Arabic: مُصِيبَة f (muṣība), شَقْوَة f (šaqwa) Belarusian: няшча́сце n (njaščáscje), бяда́ (be) f (bjadá) Bulgarian: неща́стие (bg) n (neštástie) Catalan: infortuni m, desgràcia (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng), 禍／祸 (zh) (huò) Danish: ulykke (da) c Dutch: tegenslag (nl) m Finnish: onnettomuus (fi) French: mésaventure (fr) f, malheur (fr) m German: Unglück (de) n, Unfall (de) m, Unheil (de) n, Mißgeschick (de) n, Missgeschick (de) n Greek: ατυχία (el) f (atychía), κακοτυχία (el) f (kakotychía), δυστυχία (el) (dystychía) Ancient: συμφορά f (sumphorá), δυστύχημα n (dustúkhēma) Hungarian: csapás (hu), szerencsétlenség (hu) Ingrian: onnettomus Irish: amaróid f, anachain (ga) f, tubaiste (ga) m Italian: disgrazia (it) f Japanese: 不幸 (ja) (ふこう, fukō), 災い (ja) (わざわい, wazawai) Korean: 불운(不運) (ko) (burun), 불행(不幸) (ko) (bulhaeng) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: لێقەومان (lêqewman) Latin: calamitas f, clades f, aerumma f, adversa n pl Latvian: bēda f Malayalam: അനർത്ഥം (ml) (anaṟtthaṁ) Maori: maiki, maikiroa Ngazidja Comorian: ɓaya class 5/6 Norwegian: Bokmål: ulykke (no) m or f Occitan: malparada, malabosena, malastrada Portuguese: desgraça (pt) f, infortúnio (pt) m, adversidade (pt) f Romanian: pățeală (ro) f, pățanie (ro) f, nenorocire (ro) f Russian: несча́стье (ru) n (nesčástʹje), беда́ (ru) f (bedá) Spanish: desgracia (es) f, infortunio (es) m, desventura (es) f, adversidad (es) f Swedish: olycka (sv) c Ukrainian: неща́стя (uk) n (neščástja), біда́ (uk) f (bidá)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Georgian: (please verify) ჭირი (č̣iri)

Anagrams

• uniformest