as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
Romeo and Juliet are among literature's most famous star-crossed lovers
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Recent Examples of star-crossed
Think how many times during Rodgers’ Green Bay tenure that the quarterback played well, only to have the Packers’ star-crossed special teams betray him.
—
Mike Sando, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Lesbian star-crossed lovers à la Bonnie and Clyde?
—Quispe López, Them., 29 Aug. 2025
The duo play star-crossed BFFs in the epic romance, which Goldstein co-wrote with William Bridges.
—Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025
So ends one of the most controversial and star-crossed investigations in history.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 11 Jan. 2025
Flashback: Boeing's Starliner was star-crossed even before the inaugural crewed mission earlier this year.
—Avery Lotz, Axios, 30 Sep. 2024
Few Olympic teams in any sport have had to rebound more times or overcome adversity more often than the U.S. women’s water polo team, the most successful in the world in the pool and the most star-crossed outside it.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2024
The attraction between the star-crossed, cross-cultural couple is electric and propulsive, lasting for years with unmitigated intensity.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024
That’s a career best for the U.S. country artist, and third top 10 appearance following 2018’s Golden Hour (No. 6) and 2021’s star-crossed (No. 10).
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
Mike Sando, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Lesbian star-crossed lovers à la Bonnie and Clyde?
—Quispe López, Them., 29 Aug. 2025
The duo play star-crossed BFFs in the epic romance, which Goldstein co-wrote with William Bridges.
—Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025
So ends one of the most controversial and star-crossed investigations in history.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 11 Jan. 2025
Flashback: Boeing's Starliner was star-crossed even before the inaugural crewed mission earlier this year.
—Avery Lotz, Axios, 30 Sep. 2024
Few Olympic teams in any sport have had to rebound more times or overcome adversity more often than the U.S. women’s water polo team, the most successful in the world in the pool and the most star-crossed outside it.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2024
The attraction between the star-crossed, cross-cultural couple is electric and propulsive, lasting for years with unmitigated intensity.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024
That’s a career best for the U.S. country artist, and third top 10 appearance following 2018’s Golden Hour (No. 6) and 2021’s star-crossed (No. 10).
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for star-crossed
Adjective
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Plus, Vince’s on-screen demise serves an unfortunate reminder of the realities of real-life firefighting.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
23 Sep. 2025
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The Ravens move on to Week 4 with an unfortunate stat, having scored 111 points across three games.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Kybella can be used as an alternative to surgery for patients who are unhappy with fat under their chin, also known as submental fullness, and have not seen improvement with diet and exercise, according to the manufacturers.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
18 Sep. 2025
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Folks felt exposed or excluded or some unhappy combination of both.—
Andrew Pasquier,
Them.,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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The Murdochs, meanwhile, would get some redemption themselves, following the disastrous purchase of MySpace in 2005, which came right as Facebook was emerging as a dominant social platform.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Sep. 2025
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But with so much riding on these systems, there can be potentially disastrous consequences at a massive scale if something goes wrong.—
Kevin Purdy,
ArsTechnica,
20 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There was quiet affirmation sprinkled throughout this game that Vance Joseph's defense can and will keep the Broncos afloat in the playoff race, no matter how hapless their offense remains.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
21 Sep. 2025
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As impassioned calls grow across social media to boycott Disney and ABC over the indefinite suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and some other hapless celebrities appear to have been been hit with a case of very bad timing.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Mikolas suffered a hard-luck setback in his lone meeting with Milwaukee this season.—
Field Level Media,
Reuters,
14 Sep. 2025
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McConaughey plays hard-luck bus driver Kevin McKay, who's responsible for getting more than 20 kids and their teacher (America Ferrera) home while also worrying about his teenage son Sean.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Star-crossed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/star-crossed. Accessed 25 Sep. 2025.
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