as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
a hard-luck ball club that never could get the breaks it needed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hard-luck
Burford has stepped in nicely for hard-luck left guard Ben Bartch.
—
Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 20 Dec. 2025
And so UMass is doing what many hard-luck gamblers have done before: double down.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 24 Nov. 2025
The latter more than held his own, though, allowing four hits and three runs across 6 2/3 innings before leaving as the hard-luck loser.
—Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
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
But despite those absences, Texas rallied from a 38-14 deficit entering the fourth quarter to pull off the unlikely win over hard-luck Mississippi State (4-4, 0-4).
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 25 Oct. 2025
Leiter took a hard-luck loss for his gem as the Yankees wrapped up the title.
—Jayson Stark, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Mikolas suffered a hard-luck setback in his lone meeting with Milwaukee this season.
—Field Level Media, Reuters, 14 Sep. 2025
Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 20 Dec. 2025
And so UMass is doing what many hard-luck gamblers have done before: double down.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 24 Nov. 2025
The latter more than held his own, though, allowing four hits and three runs across 6 2/3 innings before leaving as the hard-luck loser.
—Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
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
But despite those absences, Texas rallied from a 38-14 deficit entering the fourth quarter to pull off the unlikely win over hard-luck Mississippi State (4-4, 0-4).
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 25 Oct. 2025
Leiter took a hard-luck loss for his gem as the Yankees wrapped up the title.
—Jayson Stark, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Mikolas suffered a hard-luck setback in his lone meeting with Milwaukee this season.
—Field Level Media, Reuters, 14 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-luck
Adjective
-
The two recent deaths in Minneapolis are an unfortunate result of less-then-peaceful protesting.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The 2025 August slide from the Padre with the biggest contract was especially unfortunate as the Padres (16-12 in August) were unable to fully capitalize on the Dodgers’ struggles (15-13 in August) to overtake them in the NL West.—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Domingo Morel, a professor at New York University who studies state takeovers of local schools, said most local residents wind up unhappy with the methods used by state interventionists and the results.—
Bri Hatch,
Chalkbeat,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Audrey, the single and childless and PhD-less product of a stable but unhappy home, has fallen short of the life planned out for her by her parents.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Jan. 2026
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
-
In the film, O’Hara’s Cookie and her hapless husband, Gerry (played by Eugene Levy), own a Norwich terrier named Winky who is competing for best in show.—
Michaela Zee,
Variety,
4 Feb. 2026
-
In public, Newsom speaks often and openly about his errors, fortifying his image as a bumptious, slightly hapless victim of his own enthusiasms.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Secretary Noem paused the diversity lottery to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.—
Michael Sinkewicz,
FOXNews.com,
31 Jan. 2026
-
The main issues on that offense were instability at offensive coordinator, as owner Woody Johnson forced him to fire Mike LaFleur after the 2022 season and replace him with the disastrous Nathaniel Hackett.—
Zack Rosenblatt,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hard-luck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-luck. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
