as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
the hapless motorist had barely paid his bill and driven away from the body shop when a truck sideswiped his car
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Recent Examples of hapless
Hence, this nimble, propulsive movie, given a loose intimacy by Juan Sarmiento’s 16mm cinematography, proves to be oddly heartfelt when seemingly most cruel about Oscar’s hapless earnestness.
—
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
Or the hapless sidekick (Jacob Batalon of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films) who is usually the brunt of the joke.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 26 Jan. 2026
Remember Adam Lally, the hapless prosecutor in the first kangaroo-court trial of Karen Read.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
And the main thing that Yasmin has in common with her husband—the hapless aristocrat Henry Muck, played by Kit Harington—is their terrible fathers.
—Louis Staples, Glamour, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
Or the hapless sidekick (Jacob Batalon of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films) who is usually the brunt of the joke.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 26 Jan. 2026
Remember Adam Lally, the hapless prosecutor in the first kangaroo-court trial of Karen Read.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
And the main thing that Yasmin has in common with her husband—the hapless aristocrat Henry Muck, played by Kit Harington—is their terrible fathers.
—Louis Staples, Glamour, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hapless
Adjective
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With so much experience playing Head, Claassen is easily able to improvise in the moment answering random questions, cracking jokes and exchanging repartee with audience members, like the unfortunate man in row B who dared to show up at the theater on Friday in a casual sweatshirt.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 Feb. 2026
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Ben Jaggers finds motivation from an unfortunate disqualification that stifled his bid for a medal last year.—
Rick Cantu,
Austin American Statesman,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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For Adams’ Laura, its restorative properties are compromised by ever-present memories of her unhappy childhood, many of them directly associated with the family’s gorgeous summer house.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Feb. 2026
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Competitive equity playoffs There’s still coaches unhappy with the Southern Section competitive equity playoff system using computer algorithms to place teams in divisions.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
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After a disastrous White House meeting a year ago, Zelenskyy has adopted a more practical negotiating stance, emphasizing Ukraine’s goodwill.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Feb. 2026
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Just five months later, Kipnuk was among several villages hit by disastrous storm surge and flooding when Typhoon Halong battered the remote Alaskan coast in October 2025.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
22 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hapless. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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