mischance

[mis-chans, -chahns]

Origin

noun

a mishap or misfortune.

Origin:
1250–1300; mis-¹ + chance; replacing Middle English mescheance < Old French

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Mischance is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

mischance (mɪsˈtʃɑːns)

—n
1.	bad luck
2.	a stroke of bad luck

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

Word Origin & History

mischance

c.1300, from O.Fr. meschance, from V.L. *minuscadentiam; see mis- (2) + chance. Now usually "bad luck;" formerly much stronger: "calamity, disaster."

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Related Words

mishap

Matching Quote

"Wit is a lean creature with sharp inquiring nose, whereas humor has a kindly eye and a comfortable girth. Wit, if it be necessary, uses malice to score a point—like a cat it is quick to jump—but humor keeps the peace in an easy chair. Wit has a better voice in a solo, but humor comes into the chorus best. Wit is as sharp as a stroke of lightning, whereas humor is diffuse like sunlight. Wit keeps the season's fashions and is precise in the phrases and judgments of the day, but humor is concerned with homely eternal things. Wit wears silk, but humor in homely-spun endures the wind. Wit sets a snare, whereas humor goes off whistling without a victim in its mind. Wit is sharper company at the table, but humor serves better in mischance and in the rain. When it tumbles wit is sour, but humor goes uncomplaining without its dinner. Humor laughs at another's jest and holds its sides, while wit sits wrapped in study for a lively answer."

-Charles S. Brooks

mischance

mis·chance