as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
the ill-fated trip ended in disaster for all
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Recent Examples of ill-fated
The move to LoHi ended up being ill-fated, according to Nuñez, because the restaurant lost its identity.
—
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 28 May 2025
His previous two films were the ill-fated (but far better than remembered) Brainstorm, a psychedelic science fiction thriller forever marred due to its co-lead Natalie Wood's tragic death during production, and a dark masterpiece, David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone.
—EW.com, 24 May 2025
Despite the trailblazing accomplishment, Walters’ co-anchor role was ill-fated, and the evening news was overhauled in 1978 into World News Tonight.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 12 May 2025
But efforts from Chinese firms to gain a physical foothold in Greenland or access its raw materials have been ill-fated.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
And each event remains converged at a crossroads — albeit not the ultimately all-too-hasty, vague and ill-fated East Crossroads stadium district proposal Jackson County voters rebuked a year ago this month.
—Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 12 Apr. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
Recent offseason activity saw the narrative be about who was leaving the Boston Red Sox – Mookie Betts in the ill-fated traded to the Dodgers after 2019, Xander Bogaerts signing with the Padres after 2021 and the trade of Chris Sale to the Braves nearly a year ago.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 28 May 2025
His previous two films were the ill-fated (but far better than remembered) Brainstorm, a psychedelic science fiction thriller forever marred due to its co-lead Natalie Wood's tragic death during production, and a dark masterpiece, David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone.
—EW.com, 24 May 2025
Despite the trailblazing accomplishment, Walters’ co-anchor role was ill-fated, and the evening news was overhauled in 1978 into World News Tonight.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 12 May 2025
But efforts from Chinese firms to gain a physical foothold in Greenland or access its raw materials have been ill-fated.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
And each event remains converged at a crossroads — albeit not the ultimately all-too-hasty, vague and ill-fated East Crossroads stadium district proposal Jackson County voters rebuked a year ago this month.
—Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 12 Apr. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
Recent offseason activity saw the narrative be about who was leaving the Boston Red Sox – Mookie Betts in the ill-fated traded to the Dodgers after 2019, Xander Bogaerts signing with the Padres after 2021 and the trade of Chris Sale to the Braves nearly a year ago.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-fated
Adjective
-
Shakira does appear to be the beneficiary of an unintended consequence stemming from her unfortunate moves.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
21 June 2025
-
The stern instructor displays a remarkable amount of patience as the student bashes the unfortunate victim against every solid surface in sight — even alien beings capable of traversing the cosmos can have bad days at the office.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
The root of the fallout was the Who (and specifically Daltrey) being unhappy with Starkey’s performance when the band played a pair of Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
22 June 2025
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On Friday, Devers alluded to being unhappy with how the Red Sox treated him.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
Skipping this governance checkpoint essentially means letting people create powerful and untested tools for decision making, which could be disastrous to an organization’s future success.—
Larry English,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
-
Trading away Jokic would be disastrous, and the thought of it is just as bad.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ill-fated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-fated. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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