LUCKLESS Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

luckless

adjective

Definition of luckless

as in unfortunate

having, prone to, or marked by bad luck a luckless team with the worst record in the league

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 This year, the final was between Kerry, historically the sport’s most successful side, and Mayo, one of Ireland’s smaller counties by population and, in football terms, the most luckless. — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 27 July 2026 The one in which his tiny team of negotiators surrendered to the radicals ruling that luckless nation. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 20 June 2026 Any one of those locations could have allowed the heat of reentry to burn through the aluminum alloy walls of the spacecraft, killing any luckless crew that may have been inside, in much the kind of reentry breakup that doomed the shuttle Columbia and its seven-person crew in 2003. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Apr. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for luckless

Adjective

That understanding for the narrator is one tinged with mourning for the boy who endured but also the suspect boy who was always there, even before all the unfortunate happenings.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
The first addresses inflammation and irritation (an unfortunate side effect of vitamin C, for some people).

— Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of unfortunate

Adjective

Some Democratic board members noted that voters unhappy with Lukas’ performance can express their dissatisfaction in the 2028 election.

— Alicia Fabbre, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
When the motorcycle crew was unhappy with the drugs, Hinman and Beausoleil got into a confrontation.

— Kalia Richardson, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of unhappy

Adjective

Most glaring is the disparity between the top-tier clinical protocols and the logistics, which are more hapless than flawless.

— Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 8 Aug. 2026
Despite Sarah’s flapping her cardigan in the air like a hungover color-guard girl at a homecoming parade, the hapless Irish naval men sent to save her remained beyond the bobbing waves.

— Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of hapless

Adjective

Boone didn’t get to watch the disastrous half-inning from the dugout, as he was ejected in the top of the sixth.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 15 Aug. 2026
Despite so many past failures, Washington’s foreign policy debates are frequently still dominated by aging officials who made disastrous choices.

— Emma Ashford, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of disastrous

Adjective

Fox closed with four birdies over his last six holes — and one bogey that felt equally important — for a 2-under 68 and a one-shot victory over hard-luck Cameron Young for his first major title.

— Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2026
All the usual fun Indy stuff is here – Nazis, treasured artifacts – though the bantering chemistry between Ford's hard-luck hero and Sean Connery as his grumpy dad is off-the-hook spectacular.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 13 June 2026