as in unhappy
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
Romeo and Juliet are among literature's most famous star-crossed lovers
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Recent Examples of star-crossed
The sweeping romance set across three decades of passion, loss, and hope in Beirut stars Hassan Akil and Mounia Akl as Nino and Yasmina, star-crossed lovers bound by a magnetic relationship, one an eternal optimist and the other an impulsive pragmatist.
—
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025
In one scene, Edward likens the couple's star-crossed romance to a lion falling in love with a lamb.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, star-crossed lovers Ellen (Harriet Slater) and Brian (Jamie Roy) managed to plot an escape of their own — but not before getting some major blood on their hands.
—Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2025
The star-crossed tend to double down on superstition.
—Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
Lesbian star-crossed lovers à la Bonnie and Clyde?
—Quispe López, Them., 29 Aug. 2025
The duo play star-crossed BFFs in the epic romance, which Goldstein co-wrote with William Bridges.
—Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025
So ends one of the most controversial and star-crossed investigations in history.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 11 Jan. 2025
Flashback: Boeing's Starliner was star-crossed even before the inaugural crewed mission earlier this year.
—Avery Lotz, Axios, 30 Sep. 2024
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025
In one scene, Edward likens the couple's star-crossed romance to a lion falling in love with a lamb.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, star-crossed lovers Ellen (Harriet Slater) and Brian (Jamie Roy) managed to plot an escape of their own — but not before getting some major blood on their hands.
—Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2025
The star-crossed tend to double down on superstition.
—Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
Lesbian star-crossed lovers à la Bonnie and Clyde?
—Quispe López, Them., 29 Aug. 2025
The duo play star-crossed BFFs in the epic romance, which Goldstein co-wrote with William Bridges.
—Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025
So ends one of the most controversial and star-crossed investigations in history.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 11 Jan. 2025
Flashback: Boeing's Starliner was star-crossed even before the inaugural crewed mission earlier this year.
—Avery Lotz, Axios, 30 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for star-crossed
Adjective
-
Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth Sunderland vs Everton David Moyes has not been back on the touchline at the Stadium of Light since his unhappy spell in charge of Sunderland ended in relegation in 2017.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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But if Brown is that unhappy with his status on the team, perhaps moving him would be addition by subtraction, as Florio suggested.—
Robert Marvi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Thus a wonderful section on The Jew of Malta climaxes in an unfortunate vision of the text as a secret message to Lord Strange, a wealthy and important patron of the arts.—
Isaac Butler,
The Atlantic,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Such an event, let alone two within less than an hour of each other, is both unfortunate and potentially very suspicious.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Vasyanovych plays Roman, a luckless director who’s out of work and trying to shoot his latest film in a country whose dwindling population is still traumatized by the war.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The Arizona Wildcats clobbered Colorado, 52-17, marking another disastrous defeat for Coach Prime.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Gottlieb’s team, picked last in the Horizon League preseason poll, hopes to improve on last year’s disastrous 4-28 campaign.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Startups may cast incumbents as hapless Goliaths, but in ranking Europe’s biggest companies, David is nowhere to be seen.—
Adam Gale,
Fortune,
29 Oct. 2025
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The point is, to me, Kuhn’s hapless federal felonies seem a lot less significant than grabbing $7,000 in cash payoffs in the ladies’ room at City Hall.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The two formerly hard-luck performers, each previously divorced with children, blended their families and achieved enough professional success to open for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder in Milwaukee.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
27 Oct. 2025
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Kevin Gausman took the hard-luck loss after allowing two runs on three hits over 5.2 innings.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Immortality and doomed romance?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Their last one came in February against a doomed Leicester City.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Star-crossed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/star-crossed. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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