W. H. Whyte
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Hapless means exactly what you'd expect it to mean: "without hap"—hap being another word for fortune or luck. Hap comes from the Old Norse word for "good luck," which is also the source of happen and happy. English has several words to describe those lacking good fortune, including ill-starred, ill-fated, unlucky, and luckless, a word formed in parallel to hapless by adding the suffix -less. Ill-starred suggests bringing calamity or the threat of a terrible fate ("the ill-starred year the Great Depression began"). Ill-fated refers only to being doomed ("the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic"). Unlucky and luckless usually apply to a person or thing notably or chronically unfortunate ("an unlucky slots player," "some luckless investors swindled in the deal"). Hapless is often imbued with a touch of pity, humor, or both for those to whom it refers, as in "a hapless goalie who couldn't block a shot to save his life."
Examples of hapless in a Sentence
Caryn James, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025
The Balloon Boy hoax would seem to have all the right elements for a revisitation: a hapless, alleged victim (6-year-old Falcon Heene), sky-high danger (the balloon reached about 7,000 feet), daringly duplicitous parents (Richard and Mayumi Heene), and a national profile that gripped audiences.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 23 June 2025
Bud Black – Fired earlier this year after his hapless Colorado Rockies couldn’t buy a win, this former pitcher still commands respect from both teammates and rivals.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
The teacher becomes a hapless victim in what appear to be highly improbable situations, orchestrated by a cartoonishly scheming Ritsuko to frame Seichii.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Cite this Entry
“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hapless. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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hapless
adjective
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