Adjacent Words

Unlucky definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UNLUCK'Y, a.
1. Unfortunate; not successful; as an unlucky man.
2. Unfortunate; not resulting in success; as an unlucky adventure; an unlucky throw of dice; an unlucky game.
[This word is usually applied to incidents in which success depends on single events, to games of hazard, etc. rather than to things which depend on a long series of events, or on the ordinary course of providence. Hence we say, a man is unlucky in play or in a lottery; but not that a farmer is unlucky in his husbandry, or a commander unlucky in the result of a campaign.]
3. Unhappy; miserable; subject to frequent misfortunes.
4. Slightly mischievous; mischievously waggish; as an unlucky boy; an unlucky wag.
5. Ill omened; inauspicious.
Haunt me not with that unlucky face.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having or bringing misfortune; "Friday the 13th is an unlucky date" [syn: unlucky, luckless] [ant: lucky]
2: marked by or promising bad fortune; "their business venture was doomed from the start"; "an ill-fated business venture"; "an ill-starred romance"; "the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons"- W.H.Prescott [syn: doomed, ill-fated, ill- omened, ill-starred, unlucky]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1530 1. marked by adversity or failure <an unlucky year> 2. likely to bring misfortune ; inauspicious <an unlucky number> 3. having or meeting with misfortune <unlucky people> 4. producing dissatisfaction ; regrettable • unluckiness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (unluckier, unluckiest) 1 not fortunate or successful. 2 wretched. 3 bringing bad luck. 4 ill-judged. Derivatives: unluckily adv. unluckiness n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Unlucky Un*luck"y, a. 1. Not lucky; not successful; unfortunate; ill-fated; unhappy; as, an unlucky man; an unlucky adventure; an unlucky throw of dice; an unlucky game. Note: This word is properly applied to incidents in which failure results from chance or fortuity, as in games of hazard, rather than from lack or feebleness of effort. 2. Bringing bad luck; ill-omened; inauspicious. Haunt me not with that unlucky face. --Dryden. 3. Mischievous; as, an unlucky wag. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(unluckier, unluckiest) 1. If someone is unlucky, they have bad luck. Owen was unlucky not to score on two occasions... Others were unlucky victims of falling debris. = unfortunate ? lucky ADJ: oft ADJ to-inf 2. You can use unlucky to describe unpleasant things which happen to someone, especially when you feel that the person does not deserve them. ...Argentina's unlucky defeat by Ireland. ? lucky ADJ 3. Unlucky is used to describe something that is thought to cause bad luck. Some people think it is unlucky to look at a new moon through glass. ? lucky ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Unfortunate, unsuccessful, luckless, ill-starred, ill-fated. 2. Inauspicious, ill-omened. 3. Unhappy, miserable. 4. (Colloq.) Mischievous, waggish.

Moby Thesaurus

apocalyptic, bad, badly off, baleful, baneful, black, bodeful, boding, calamitous, cataclysmic, catastrophic, dark, depressed, dire, direful, disastrous, donsie, doomful, dreary, evil, evil-starred, fatal, fateful, foreboding, fortuneless, funest, gloomy, hapless, ill, ill off, ill-boding, ill-considered, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-seasoned, ill-starred, ill-timed, improper, in adverse circumstances, inappropriate, inauspicious, inconvenient, inexpedient, infelicitous, inopportune, intempestive, intrusive, irrelevant, late, lowering, luckless, mal a propos, malapropos, menacing, mistimed, of evil portent, off base, ominous, out of line, out of luck, out of phase, out of time, planet-struck, portending, portentous, premature, sad, short of luck, sinister, somber, star-crossed, threatening, too late, too soon, unbefitting, unblessed, underprivileged, unfavorable, unfit, unfitting, unfortunate, unhandy, unhappy, unpromising, unpropitious, unprosperous, unprovidential, unready, unripe, unseasonable, unsuitable, untimely, untoward, wrong