unfortunate

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ fortunate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈfɔːtjʊnət/, /ʌnˈfɔːt͡ʃənət/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈfɔɹt͡ʃənɪt/, /ʌnˈfɔɹt͡ʃnɪt/
• (General American, weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈfɔɹt͡ʃənət/, /ʌnˈfɔɹt͡ʃnət/
• Hyphenation: un‧for‧tu‧nate

Adjective

unfortunate (comparative more unfortunate, superlative most unfortunate)

1. Not favored by fortune.

   Synonym: unsuccessful

   Antonym: fortunate

2. Marked or accompanied by or resulting in misfortune.

   Synonym: unlucky

   Antonyms: fortunate, lucky

   • 1933, Henry Sturmey, H. Walter Staner, The Autocar:

     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 […]

Derived terms

• unfortunately

Translations

not favored by fortune

Armenian: դժբախտ (hy) (džbaxt), ձախորդ (hy) (jaxord) Bulgarian: нещастен (bg) (neštasten) Catalan: desafortunat (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng) Danish: uheldig, ulykkelig Dutch: onfortuinlijk (nl) Faroese: óskepnuligur, eydnuleysur, vanlukkuligur Finnish: onneton (fi), epäonninen (fi) French: infortuné (fr) Galician: desafortunado German: unglücklich (de), unglückselig (de) Greek: άμοιρος (el) (ámoiros) Ancient: δυστυχής (dustukhḗs), ἀτυχής (atukhḗs) Ido: desfortunoza (io) Irish: mí-ámharach, mífhortúnach Italian: sfortunato (it), iellato (it), sfigato (it), scalognato (it), malcapitato (it), sventurato (it), disgraziato (it) Japanese: 不幸 (ja) (fukō) Kazakh: бақытсыз (baqytsyz) Korean: 불행(不幸) (ko) (bulhaeng) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: بێبەخت (bêbext) Latin: īnfēlīx Macedonian: не́среќен (nésreḱen) Malayalam: ദൗർഭാഗ്യം (dauṟbhāgyaṁ) Norwegian: uheldig (no) Occitan: desfortunat (oc), malastrugat Ottoman Turkish: وارون (varun) Polish: fatalny (pl), pechowy (pl) Portuguese: desafortunado, azarado (pt), infeliz (pt) Russian: несча́стный (ru) (nesčástnyj), несчастли́вый (ru) (nesčastlívyj), неуда́чный (ru) (neudáčnyj), неуда́чливый (ru) (neudáčlivyj) Spanish: desafortunado (es), desgraciado (es) Swedish: olycklig (sv) Vietnamese: đáng tiếc

marked or accompanied by or resulting in misfortune

Armenian: դժբախտ (hy) (džbaxt), ձախորդ (hy) (jaxord) Bulgarian: неудачен (bg) (neudačen) Catalan: desafortunat (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng) Danish: uheldig Finnish: onneton (fi), epäonninen (fi), onnistumaton (fi) French: malencontreux (fr) German: unglücklich (de), unglückselig (de) Irish: aimseach Italian: sfortunato (it) Japanese: 不幸 (ja) (fukō) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: نەگبەت (negbet) Latin: īnfēlīx Macedonian: не́среќен (nésreḱen) Malayalam: ദൗർഭാഗ്യം (dauṟbhāgyaṁ) Marathi: दुर्दैवी (durdaivī) Norwegian: uheldig (no) Ottoman Turkish: اوغورسز (uğursuz), بختسز (bahtsız), قوتسز (kutsuz) Plautdietsch: schod Portuguese: desafortunado, infeliz (pt) Russian: неуда́чный (ru) (neudáčnyj) Spanish: desafortunado (es)

See also

• deplorable
• regrettable
• infelicitous
• unsuitable

Noun

unfortunate (plural unfortunates)

1. An unlucky person; one who has fallen into bad circumstances.
   • 1960 February, “Talking of Trains: Moretonhampstead - a p.s.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 73:

     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. (archaic, euphemistic) A prostitute.

Translations

unlucky person

Bulgarian: нещастник (bg) m (neštastnik) Czech: nešťastník (cs) m Irish: ainniseoir m, créatúr m, donán m Macedonian: не́среќник (nésreḱnik) Ottoman Turkish: بختسز (bahtsız), قوتسز (kutsuz)