as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
a luckless team with the worst record in the league
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Recent Examples of luckless
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
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
-
And yes, there is the unfortunate elephant in the room.—
Pete Sweeney
May 22,
Kansas City Star,
22 May 2026
-
Now resupply is by motorbike, ground robot or drone or in the case of Russia, carried on the backs of unfortunate soldiers known as camels.—
David Hambling,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
Adjective
-
Russian military boggers have a lot to be unhappy about.—
David Hambling,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
-
But affordability concerns have left many Americans unhappy about the economy, which could lead to major political ramifications for the midterm elections.—
Lucy Bayly,
CNN Money,
22 May 2026
Adjective
-
Chicago is riding a five-game losing streak as the hapless Astros come to town for the holiday weekend.—
Dan Freedman,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
-
And what a treat to witness Bryan Cranston return as ‘Malcolm in the Middle’s’ hapless dad.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
The researchers found that the falcon’s body shape and feather structure help maintain stable airflow during high-speed flight, which reduces the possibility of dangerous instabilities that could otherwise make pull-out mechanically disastrous.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2026
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After a disastrous conversation, Bear ends up making the wish himself, breaking the stick and wishing that Nikki would love him more than anyone else in the world, his caution obliterated by emotion.—
Katie Walsh,
Twin Cities,
23 May 2026
Adjective
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That answer may come via trade after the unlucky draft lottery.—
Kalen Lumpkins,
Chicago Tribune,
23 May 2026
-
Bill Dabney of Pasadena was one of the unlucky few who had roof turds on his guest house that led directly to a big cat encounter.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
23 May 2026
Adjective
-
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,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Luckless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/luckless. Accessed 30 May. 2026.
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