Definition of unfortunate Unfortunate

/ʌnfɔˈɹʧʌnʌt/ - [unforchunut] - un•for•tu•nate

We found 12 definitions of unfortunate from 6 different sources.

What does unfortunate mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: unfortunates
unfortunate - a person who suffers misfortune
		unfortunate person
		mortal, somebody, someone, individual, person, soul a single organism
		abandoned person someone for whom hope has been abandoned
		amputee someone who has had a limb removed by amputation
		choker a high tight collar
		desperate a person who is frightened and in need of help; "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"
		homeless person, homeless poor people who unfortunately do not have a home to live in; "the homeless became a problem in the large cities"
		job a damaging piece of work; "dry rot did the job of destroying the barn"; "the barber did a real job on my hair"
		jinx, jonah a book in the Old Testament that tells the story of Jonah and the whale
		languisher a person who languishes
		unsuccessful person, nonstarter, loser, failure a horse that fails to run in a race for which it has been entered
		maroon an exploding firework used as a warning signal
		griever, lamenter, mourner, sorrower a person who is feeling grief (as grieving over someone who has died)
		nympholept a person seized by nympholepsy
		outcast, pariah, castaway, ishmael a person who is rejected (from society or home)
		have-not, poor person a person with few or no possessions
		prisoner, captive a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
		schlimazel, shlimazel (Yiddish) a very unlucky or inept person who fails at everything
		diseased person, sick person, sufferer a person suffering from an illness
		subsister, survivor an animal that survives in spite of adversity; "only the fittest animals were survivors of the cold winters"
		victim an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
Adjective
unfortunate - not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune; "an unfortunate turn of events"; "an unfortunate decision"; "unfortunate investments"; "an unfortunate night for all concerned"
		fortunate presaging good fortune; "she made a fortunate decision to go to medical school"; "rosy predictions"
		underprivileged lacking the rights and advantages of other members of society
		luckless, unlucky having or bringing misfortune; "Friday the 13th is an unlucky date"
		unsuccessful not successful; having failed or having an unfavorable outcome
		abject showing humiliation or submissiveness; "an abject apology"
		calamitous, disastrous, fatal, fateful, black controlled or decreed by fate; predetermined; "a fatal series of events"
		dispossessed, homeless, roofless physically or spiritually homeless or deprived of security; "made a living out of shepherding dispossed people from one country to another"- James Stern
		hapless, misfortunate, piteous, pitiable, pathetic, pitiful, wretched, miserable, poor deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
		ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, unlucky, doomed having or bringing misfortune; "Friday the 13th is an unlucky date"
		downtrodden abused or oppressed by people in power
		infelicitous, unhappy not appropriate in application; defective; "an infelicitous remark"; "infelicitous phrasing"; "the infelicitous typesetting was due to illegible copy"
unfortunate - unsuitable or regrettable; "an unfortunate choice of words"; "an unfortunate speech"
unfortunate - not auspicious; boding ill
		inauspicious
		auspicious auguring favorable circumstances and good luck; "an auspicious beginning for the campaign"

= synonym
= antonym
= related word

Wiktionary

unfortunate (Noun)
An unlucky person.
unfortunate (Adjective)
Not favored by fortune.
unfortunate (Adjective)
marked or accompanied by or resulting in misfortune.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

unfortunate (a.)
Not fortunate; unsuccessful; not prosperous; unlucky; attended with misfortune; unhappy; as, an unfortunate adventure; an unfortunate man; an unfortunate commander; unfortunate business.
unfortunate (n.)
An unfortunate person.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

unfortunate
Not favored by fortune.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

unfortunate
un-for′tū-nāt, adj. not fortunate, prosperous, or successful.—n. one who is unfortunate, esp. a fallen woman.—adv. Unfor′tunately.—n. Unfor′tunateness