unfortunate

1 bringing about ruin or misfortune an unfortunate chain of events destroyed the business Synonyms calamitous, cataclysmal (or cataclysmic), catastrophic, damning, destructive, disastrous, fateful, ruinous, fatalRelated Words apocalyptic (also apocalyptical); hapless, ill-fated, ill-starred, luckless; adverse, baleful, baneful, damaging, deleterious, detrimental, evil, harmful, hurtful, ill, injurious, noxious, pernicious, prejudicialNear Antonyms fluky (also flukey), fortuitous, fortunate, happy, lucky, providential; auspicious, bright, encouraging, fair, golden, heartening, hopeful, optimistic, promising, propitious, rose-colored, rosy, upbeat

2 having, prone to, or marked by bad luck up to that point in her life she had been unfortunate in love Synonyms hapless, hard-luck, ill-fated, ill-starred, jinxed, luckless, snakebit (or snakebitten), star-crossed, unlucky, unhappyRelated Words adverse, ill, inauspicious, unfavorable, unpromising, untoward; calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous; accursed (or accurst), damned, doomed, tragic (also tragical)Near Antonyms blessed (also blest), favored, gifted, privileged; auspicious, fair, favorable, golden, promising, propitiousAntonyms fortunate, happy, lucky

3 of a kind to cause great distress an unfortunate choice of words that would later prove to be embarrassing for the talk show host Synonyms deplorable, distressful, distressing, grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending, lamentable, tragic (also tragical), regrettable, unlucky, woefulRelated Words troublesome, vexatious; affecting, doleful, moving, piteous, poignant, ruthful, touching; awful, dire, dreadful, fearful, severe, terrible; alarming, disturbing, perturbing, traumatic, unsettling; crushing, excruciating, harrowing, horrible, horrifying, intolerable, overwhelming, shocking, sickening, unbearable; miserable, pitiful, sad, wretched; calamitous, disastrous; painful, raging, sharpNear Antonyms gratifying, pleasing, rewarding, satisfying; comforting, encouraging, heartening; cheering, heartwarming, inspiring; fortunate, happy, lucky