Adjacent Words

Misfortune definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MISFOR'TUNE, n. Ill fortune; ill luck; calamity; an evil or cross accident; as loss of property at sea or by fire.
Consider why the change was wrought,
You'll find it his misfortune, not his fault.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event [syn: misfortune, bad luck]
2: an unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes [syn: misfortune, bad luck, tough luck, ill luck] [ant: good fortune, good luck, luckiness]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century 1. a. an event or conjunction of events that causes an unfortunate or distressing result ; bad luck <by misfortune he fell into bad company> <had the misfortune to break his leg> b. an unhappy situation <always ready to help people in misfortune> 2. a distressing or unfortunate incident or event <misfortunes never come singly> Synonyms: misfortune, mischance, adversity, mishap mean adverse fortune or an instance of this. misfortune may apply to either the incident or conjunction of events that is the cause of an unhappy change of fortune or to the ensuing state of distress <never lost hope even in the depths of misfortune>. mischance applies especially to a situation involving no more than slight inconvenience or minor annoyance <took the wrong road by mischance>. adversity applies to a state of grave or persistent misfortune <had never experienced great adversity>. mishap applies to an often trivial instance of bad luck <the usual mishaps of a family vacation>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 bad luck. 2 an instance of this.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Misfortune Mis*for"tune, n. Bad fortune or luck; calamity; an evil accident; disaster; mishap; mischance. Consider why the change was wrought, You 'll find his misfortune, not his fault. --Addison. Syn: Calamity; mishap; mischance; misadventure; ill; harm; disaster. See Calamity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Misfortune Mis*for"tune, v. i. To happen unluckily or unfortunately; to miscarry; to fail. [Obs.] --Stow.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(misfortunes) A misfortune is something unpleasant or unlucky that happens to someone. She seemed to enjoy the misfortunes of others... He had his full share of misfortune. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Disaster, calamity, reverse, affliction, visitation, trial, blow, stroke, adversity, distress, hardship, trouble, ill luck, ill fortune, mishap, mischance, misadventure, ill, harm.

Moby Thesaurus

accident, adversity, bad luck, bad news, blow, calamity, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, collision, contretemps, crack-up, crash, cross, disaster, dole, grief, hard luck, ill fortune, ill hap, ill luck, infelicity, loss, misadventure, mischance, mishap, nasty blow, pileup, reverse, shipwreck, shock, smash, smashup, staggering blow, tragedy, trial, tribulation, visitation, wreck