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
Antetokounmpo led his hapless team on a 34-13 run, only to limp off with a calf strain with 34 seconds left.
—
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2026
But even without three rotation players, the Heat made quick work of the hapless Wizards, opening a 34-23 lead after a quarter and a 72-52 lead at the half.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2026
Almost all of the show’s original stars have returned, including Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Jane Kaczmarek as his mom Lois, and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm’s hapless dad Hal.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
Unlike that film, The Drama, which is distributed by A24, isn’t necessarily trying to lampoon a hapless character who deserves our ire.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2026
But even without three rotation players, the Heat made quick work of the hapless Wizards, opening a 34-23 lead after a quarter and a 72-52 lead at the half.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2026
Almost all of the show’s original stars have returned, including Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Jane Kaczmarek as his mom Lois, and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm’s hapless dad Hal.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
Unlike that film, The Drama, which is distributed by A24, isn’t necessarily trying to lampoon a hapless character who deserves our ire.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hapless
Adjective
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But, yeah, that would be unfortunate.—
Ricky Sayer,
CBS News,
2 May 2026
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In this unfortunate category, Amazon’s new feature for generating mini-podcast segments that shill for products on its shopping platform really takes the cake.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Alex Cora was clearly unhappy towards the end.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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There were thousands of unhappy Stagecoach festivalgoers on Saturday night, as the approximately 75,000-80,000 guests were forced to evacuate due to high winds.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
26 Apr. 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 enduring nearly 10 months with the heartache of disastrous flooding that killed 28 people at the camp – 25 campers, two counselors and the camp’s director, Dick Eastland – days of hearings resulted in an unexpected decision by Camp Mystic’s leaders.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
3 May 2026
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His portrayal of best-selling thriller writer Greg Russo — adrift in a New England college after a disastrous campus speaking engagement — lands in that sweet spot between comedy and drama that has increasingly defined the modern Emmy landscape.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hapless. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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