W. H. Whyte
Did you know?
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
Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2026
So even if Willis and the defense flop this season, Miami still be positioned to land one of those QBs without going into this season trying to lose like, well, the hapless Washington Wizards.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 14 Mar. 2026
Only the impassioned importuning of the Jewish Queen Esther persuaded her husband, the hapless King Ahaseurus, to thwart Haman’s plans and eliminate the threat to the Jewish people.
—Michael M. Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026
This inaction, not just in January but over several transfer windows and key junctures, is more to blame for the collapse at the Metropolitano on Tuesday than the hapless Tudor’s choice to give Kinsky a go.
—Elias Burke, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Cite this Entry
“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hapless. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hapless
adjective
