as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
a luckless team with the worst record in the league
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 luckless
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
Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for luckless
Adjective
-
That house has a history of unfortunate events, including the fate of Cookie, an errant heiress and her pooch.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The start of 2026 has been a series of unfortunate events for Michelle Harris and her family.—
Monique John,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The 28-year-old receiver is reportedly unhappy with his situation in Philadelphia, despite winning a Super Bowl a little over a year ago.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
-
But there may be an answer, or at least a compromise that will satisfy those unhappy with the idea of destroying a usable building.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Sacramento was the Washington Generals to the Hornets’ Harlem Globetrotters on Tuesday night — Charlotte seemed to toy with a hapless Sacramento team that just wanted to get out of the Queen City.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Golden State was coming off a scrappy victory over hapless Washington, snapping a five-game losing streak.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Duke appeared to be too much for the Huskies, who went more than five minutes without scoring during a disastrous first-half stretch to fall behind, 44-25.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
30 Mar. 2026
-
And years later, when the group splintered into increasingly militant factions, some took part in a disastrous bank robbery that killed an innocent guard and two police officers—three men who were just doing their jobs that day, and who left behind their own kids, their own families.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
From fire irons to swords, guns to clothes airers, Nesbø — who wrote the screenplay himself — finds a myriad ways to dispatch his unlucky victims, a significant number of whom also lose limbs before bleeding out.—
K.J. Yossman,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Applicants who are unlucky in the caseworker they are assigned are less likely to provide all the relevant information, leading to a denial.—
Claudia Strauss,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
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,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Luckless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/luckless. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
