as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
a hard-luck ball club that never could get the breaks it needed
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Recent Examples of hard-luck
The Oilers went back to Connor Ingram in goal after a hard-luck overtime loss for Tristan Jarry in Game 4.
—
Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 29 Apr. 2026
There’s some dark subject matter, and some hard-luck people on the fringes.
—New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
For Coronado, the hard-luck loser was freshman Quinn Smock, who pitched six innings, allowed one unearned run on three hits and struck out seven.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
But nothing will change the chance that he was denied to celebrate with Team USA in the 2026 Olympics, or the parallels to one of the most famous hard-luck cases in sports history, Ralph Cox.
—Mac Engel
april 21, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Apr. 2026
Every small room sans closet in New York City requires a stand-alone alternative for surviving a hard-luck storage situation, and even ample hallways can benefit from a dignified wardrobe cabinet as a way to punctuate large spaces.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 17 Mar. 2026
Not after just two injury-riddled, hard-luck seasons.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
Pratt offers no prototypical hard-luck origin story.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026
Burford has stepped in nicely for hard-luck left guard Ben Bartch.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 20 Dec. 2025
Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 29 Apr. 2026
There’s some dark subject matter, and some hard-luck people on the fringes.
—New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
For Coronado, the hard-luck loser was freshman Quinn Smock, who pitched six innings, allowed one unearned run on three hits and struck out seven.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
But nothing will change the chance that he was denied to celebrate with Team USA in the 2026 Olympics, or the parallels to one of the most famous hard-luck cases in sports history, Ralph Cox.
—Mac Engel
april 21, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Apr. 2026
Every small room sans closet in New York City requires a stand-alone alternative for surviving a hard-luck storage situation, and even ample hallways can benefit from a dignified wardrobe cabinet as a way to punctuate large spaces.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 17 Mar. 2026
Not after just two injury-riddled, hard-luck seasons.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
Pratt offers no prototypical hard-luck origin story.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026
Burford has stepped in nicely for hard-luck left guard Ben Bartch.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 20 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-luck
Adjective
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Lee said the incident is especially unfortunate, given the good work VCH does.—
Deborah Vankin,
Los Angeles Times,
9 May 2026
-
This is unfortunate and, from your telling, needlessly aggressive.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
7 May 2026
Adjective
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Wait times, and particularly in the emergency department, wait times were skyrocketing, patient satisfaction, and everybody was just generally unhappy.—
Torie Bosch,
STAT,
9 May 2026
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Sources have told Deadline that Fox was originally unhappy with the creative on Season 14 of the show, but collaborated with the creative team and was ultimately sated.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
8 May 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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Bernthal, who plays Sonny, has his own wayward machismo and hapless sensitivity, the very qualities that made Al Pacino unforgettable in the role of the bungling bandit with a Catholic conscience.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
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At one point, the crew shot a scene in which Whalen’s character joins a bar fight, shouting invectives at a hapless extra before pummelling him to the ground.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Too much of it can be disastrous for the local ecosystems, leading to issues like algal blooms.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
10 May 2026
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The Lakers coach couldn’t even sub fast enough before Ayton’s two-handed frustration shove of Oklahoma City guard Ajay Mitchell put a disappointing punctuation mark on a disastrous 19-second stretch for the Lakers starting center.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hard-luck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-luck. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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