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unfortunate

[uhn-fawr-chuh-nit]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

suffering from bad luck: an unfortunate person.

unfavorable or inauspicious: an unfortunate beginning.

regrettable or deplorable: an unfortunate remark.

marked by or inviting misfortune: an unfortunate development.

lamentable; sad: the unfortunate death of her parents.

noun

an unfortunate person.

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Unfortunate is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Origin:
1520–30; un-¹ + fortunate

Related forms

un·for·tu·nate·ly, adverb

un·for·tu·nate·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. unsuccessful, hapless.

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

Example Sentences

The prime minister has tried to cast these as a series of unfortunate events beyond his control.

Should this derail conversations with prospective candidate universities, it would be unfortunate and would do.

Now, in a surprising twist, they have said that the whole affair was an unfortunate mistake.

EXPAND

The prime minister has tried to cast these as a series of unfortunate events beyond his control.

Should this derail conversations with prospective candidate universities, it would be unfortunate and would do.

Now, in a surprising twist, they have said that the whole affair was an unfortunate mistake.

The stork opens its bill and sticks it into the water, then waits for the touch of an unfortunate fish that wanders too close.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that people often shrink a bit as they age.

And then there were a number of clips involving unfortunate incidents with a piñata stick hitting some poor guy in the groin.

You've been blessed with a swarm, but how unfortunate that it's in a difficult spot.

Putting a price on life is an unfortunate but necessary part of health care in a world of limited resources.

But graduate students must face the unfortunate fact that the problem is indeed linked to the.

Most people never have their bank accounts raided by cyber criminals, but an unfortunate few do, and lose a lot.

He strays from his normal routine once too often, and that leads to an unfortunate consequence.

We tend to regard pain as an unfortunate by-product of physical harm.

It is unfortunate to learn that people seek personal gains at the expense of losing historical and cultural artifacts.

It is unfortunate that there are many administrators that don't agree with me on this point.

Some candidates have had the unfortunate experience of having an interviewer who has had too much to drink.

All the same it is an unfortunate piece of collateral damage, something the authorities have so far failed to address.

It was unfortunate that our research season had to end.

The rising popularity of do it yourselfing seems to be behind the unfortunate trend.

The army lived off the land, sacking the unfortunate homesteads and plantations that lay along the line of march.

So it seems that those who advise high-school students must take this unfortunate stigma into account.

It is unfortunate that the court cannot sentence the convicted to death.

The stories are incredible to modern ears, and in a way, that's unfortunate.

It's unfortunate the way cows and chickens are slaughtered.

Aristotle concluded that slaves are an unfortunate but necessary evil.

All of which makes it unfortunate that, at the other end of their migration route, bats are persecuted.

It also consumes a range of mammals-rats, ducks, even bats-that may be unfortunate enough to end up in the water.

It's unfortunate that our affiliates have declined to carry this mission.

It's unfortunate that the colors were limited in his size.

Such an event, unfortunate as it might have been, was well within the tolerances for which the towers were designed.

Extinction is more complicated and more rampant than is being reported herein and this is highly unfortunate.

The days when managers accepted high energy bills as an unfortunate but necessary cost of doing business are gone, he added.

The unfortunate farmers who encounter the bizarre hue fall prey to insanity and untimely death.

It was indeed an unfortunate spider who has lost two of his legs.

The ironic and unfortunate result is that an extremely intelligent child may fail dramatically in school.

He's an unfortunate product of an economy that overstretched itself on bad loans and deficit spending.

Unfortunate that it requires a shuttle to keep it alive.

It is unfortunate that people are afraid of irradiated food.

It is an unfortunate fact that many students, even good ones, plagiarize or are seriously tempted to do.

One of the unfortunate side-effects of being male is a higher death rate, at any given age, than if you are female.

The unfortunate novice fliers are often the scrawniest ones or those that try to ride.

But the unfortunate truth is that more children die every year from illnesses caused by.

There's always seemed to be an unfortunate mentality on the part of the creators of games for younger children that.

News of the unfortunate flu epidemic did not come as any big surprise to those infected by the fashion bug.

Now that these unfortunate infant bonobos are constantly exposed to.

That's unfortunate because it's important knowledge readers should have as they make garden design decisions.

It is considered to be rather unfortunate, so unfortunate that some people.

Violence in any form is a tragic, unfortunate fact of life.

It's so unfortunate that our destiny is in the hands of others".

The story you link to is unfortunate in that it is full of inaccuracies.

Specialists say the findings don't mean women who inherit an unfortunate gene package are doomed.

The unfortunate man's father, mother, and sisters were at his bedside when the end came.

It's incredibly unfortunate it doesn't surprise anymore, but many do not know what is going on in the student lending arena.

The unfortunate police sergeant-major was shot dead in full view of dozens.

As pictured at left, the moment an unfortunate walker is.

It is unfortunate that this area of personal finance has gotten so complicated.

True, giving a clear field to the honest but unfortunate also opens the way to all sorts of chancers.

While it's unfortunate that someone would want to post misstatements and.

Macchiarelli pointed to one unfortunate patient who had a tooth drilled twice.

Toyota's dash to become the biggest carmaker may have had unfortunate consequences.

There was the unfortunate coincidence of a storm and people being out too late.

Planned obsolescence is an unfortunate fact of life.

It unfortunate to have politics affecting education stability.

The unfortunate male embryos then end up as pet food while the females go on to their lives as egg-mothers.

These spiders grab with their appendages, inject paralyzing venom, and dispatch their unfortunate victims with their fangs.

Perhaps an unfortunate coincidence of birth name,perhaps not.

The disparity between student expenditure and program response draws unfortunate attention to the fiscal side of the matter.

But to declare such sporting endeavors scientific research is an unfortunate misinterpretation of reality.

The subjects were told that something unfortunate happened to this friend, everything from car troubles to getting cheated.

That's yet another of the unfortunate consequences of our process.

BP is betting that nothing so unfortunate will happen to its new deal.

It's also unfortunate that the ranking does not incorporate student extra-curricular opportunities for development.

It is unfortunate that food is often regarded in a religious manner.

For an agency that is fighting for its life, that is unfortunate.

The ambush predators typically cling to the undersides of leaves and wait for unfortunate insects to land above.

It is unfortunate that the excellent videos created here are not downloadable.

But this week's dodge will have an unfortunate effect on research.

Let's deal with those rather than dwell on past unfortunate.

It is unfortunate you have such a poor regard for this profession.

It is so unfortunate that you and your family have to go through this awful situation.

It's quite unfortunate that we've burned so much of.

It is unfortunate but those women are in the right place.

It is unfortunate that politicians wont get off their butts and do something right for the people.

There is sometimes arrogance on both sides of this issue, and that is unfortunate.

Technology moves forward and some unfortunate people get hurt and lose jobs.

The dog seatbelts were put to the test one unfortunate night.

It is unfortunate that you are so greedy that you will not provide your amazing technology to the world for free.

They are the unfortunate ones because they will never have the opportunity to share their life with a balanced pet.

Surefire overnight successso envy is a unfortunate biproduct of that success apparently.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

unfortunate (ʌnˈfɔːtʃənɪt)

—*adj*
1.	causing or attended by misfortune
2.	unlucky, unsuccessful, or unhappy: an unfortunate character
3.	regrettable or unsuitable: an unfortunate speech

—n
4.	an unlucky person

un'fortunateness

—n

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

unfortunate

1520s, "unlucky," from un- (1) "not" + fortunate. In late 18c.-early 19c., unfortunate woman was a polite way to say "prostitute." The noun meaning "one who is not fortunate" is recorded from 1630s.

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"At the door of every happy person there should be a man with a hammer whose knock would serve as a constant reminder of the existence of unfortunate people."

-Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

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