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fortune

[fawr-chuhn]

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noun

position in life as determined by wealth: to make one's fortune.

wealth or riches: to lose a small fortune in bad investments.

great wealth; ample stock of money, property, and the like: to be worth a fortune.

chance; luck: They each had the bad fortune to marry the wrong person.

fortunes. things that happen or are to happen to a person in his or her life.

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fate; lot; destiny: whatever my fortune may be.

(initial capital letter) chance personified, commonly regarded as a mythical being distributing arbitrarily or capriciously the lots of life: Perhaps Fortune will smile on our venture.

good luck; success; prosperity: a family blessed by fortune.

Archaic. a wealthy woman; an heiress.

COLLAPSE

verb (used with object)

10.

Archaic. to endow (someone or something) with a fortune.

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Fortune is one of our favorite verbs.

So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

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verb (used without object)

11.

Archaic. to chance or happen; come by chance.

Idiom

12.

tell someone's fortune, to profess to inform someone of future events in his or her own life; foretell.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French < Latin fortūna chance, luck, fortune, derivative of fort- (stem of fors) chance

Related forms

for·tune·less, adjective

Synonyms
4. fate, destiny, providence; kismet, karma. 7. Moira; Lady Luck.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To fortune

Example Sentences

The last of the moo shu pork is devoured and the fortune cookies arrive: fate in folded wafers.

I've learned to accept my good fortune at being employed and keep my complaints to a minimum.

And looking at the past decade as a whole, fortune has clearly smiled on fortune-builders.

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The last of the moo shu pork is devoured and the fortune cookies arrive: fate in folded wafers.

I've learned to accept my good fortune at being employed and keep my complaints to a minimum.

And looking at the past decade as a whole, fortune has clearly smiled on fortune-builders.

Craft some fortune cookies, a sweet snack, or even some tasty treats for your cat or dog.

That's not irresponsible, people have to accept that you cannot go around blaming others for their poor fortune.

Celebrating a magazine's good fortune and a nation's.

Sperling oversees the effort by doling out funds from his own fortune.

Foundations and universities have spent a fortune producing freely available online course materials.

America's greater dependence on its rich is due in part to their good fortune.

Since antiquity it has known many reversals of fortune.

But even in the face of adversity, lucky people turn bad breaks into good fortune.

Cootie catchers are a popular means of fortune telling, but their accuracy is somewhat suspect.

Your husband's commitment eventually paid off, thankfully, though many others will not experience the same good fortune.

The contrasting switches of fortune do not end there.

Make your own fortune cookies for your friends and family.

Fortune and fame can be fleeting, and if you pursue them above all else you are fostering unhappiness in your life.

Besides, it's my good fortune to find any humor in a faculty meeting.

That's when the bird's fortune turned-for the worse.

Messages written on colored paper were tucked inside the fortune cookie-style candy.

Our response should be to adapt to any changes and thank our good fortune for living during a agreeable period of climate.

All of those who have made a fortune out of green energy.

OP, maybe your good fortune in the past did not train you well to face adversity.

Every one of them is the product of a large private fortune translated into a large public good.

To be fair, the bank has earned some of that good fortune.

Ripley, who won fame and fortune by celebrating the outlandish, was himself a prime example.

My new duds were sewn from old bolts of cloth, so they cost a fortune.

Our good fortune should not be considered typical, expected, or easily acquired.

But even the largest fortune can disappear, especially when undiversified.

The more firecrackers, the more fortune and blessing.

It s a common saying that stock market can change fortune in either way.

And he recently had the good fortune to meet the famous chef and watch him in action.

In theory, the genetic test could save healthcare providers a fortune by cutting down on costly emergency room visits.

I've had the great good fortune to observe and learn from some of the best teachers in the world.

After he had won, lost and regained his fortune on the railroads, he remained willing to take great risks.

He had also lost a small fortune in stock and wool investments.

Anyone who has had the good fortune of knowing her cherishes her friendship and spontaneity.

Chinese presented with a fortune cookie were surprised when there was a piece of paper inside.

It is a shame some faculty will stoop to that level for fame and fortune.

Their bleached bones remained arrayed on the pasture for years as a testament to ill fortune.

The crazed fortune hunters who created this place left their ships to rot in the harbor on their way to the gold in the hills.

Even so, the boys recently announced that the fortune was right.

No matter how he made his claimed billions, a part of his fortune depends now on his celebrity.

The burning wood represents the sun, and firing each square symbolizes a wish of good fortune for that person.

When this happens dermatologists are going to make a fortune the bearers will regret.

It would be truer to say that behind every great fortune there is a psychological aberration.

And that means smart travelers can vacation on one of these floating cities without spending a fortune.

They are so naive that they will spend a fortune and achieve nothing.

Both men are discovering that giving away your fortune does not free you from public scrutiny.

All they have are fortune predictions based on flawed models and theory.

My only problem with this speech of his is that he built his fortune on opportunism, not the needs of the poor.

What good fortune to have discovered this work–a work of incredible genius erased and written over by god-worshipers.

Guaranteed fame and fortune goes to the first person capable of doing that.

Many more are influenced by their desire not to spend a fortune on a meal.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

fortune (ˈfɔːtʃən)

—n
1.	an amount of wealth or material prosperity, esp, when unqualified, a great amount
2.	small fortune a large sum of money
3.	a power or force, often personalized, regarded as being responsible for human affairs; chance
4.	luck, esp when favourable
5.	(often plural) a person's lot or destiny

—vb
6.	archaic
	a. (tr) to endow with great wealth
	b. (intr) to happen by chance

[C13: from Old French, from Latin fortūna, from fors chance]

'fortuneless

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fortune

c.1300, "chance, luck as a force in human affairs," from O.Fr. fortune (12c.), from L. fortuna, from fors (gen. fortis) "chance, luck," from PIE base *bhrtis-. Often personified as a goddess; her wheel betokens vicissitude. Sense of "owned wealth" first found in Spenser; probably it evolved from senses

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of "one's condition or standing in life," hence "position as determined by wealth," then "wealth itself." Soldier of fortune first attested 1660s. The fortune cookie (1962) is said to have been invented in 1918 by David Jung, Chinese immigrant to America who established Hong Kong Noodle Co., who handed out cookies that contained uplifting messages as a promotional gimmick. Fortune 500 "most profitable American companies" is 1955, from the list published annually in "Fortune" magazine.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

fortune

see make a fortune.

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Matching Quote

"The Goddess Fortune is the devil's servant, ready to kiss any one's arse."

-William Blake

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