1
as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
the unlucky campers had rain all week I'm so unlucky I don't bother to play the lottery an unlucky throw of the dice
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tragic
of a kind to cause great distress
the settlers made the unlucky decision to cross the dangerous mountain pass in the middle of winter
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Recent Examples of unlucky
The club has not merely been unlucky.
—
Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 May 2026
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
Our unlucky simp is Bear (Michael Johnston), one of a quartet of early-20-something friends who work at a music store and get drunk at trivia as often as possible.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for unlucky
Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 May 2026
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
Our unlucky simp is Bear (Michael Johnston), one of a quartet of early-20-something friends who work at a music store and get drunk at trivia as often as possible.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for unlucky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unlucky
Adjective
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There’s no question that this unfortunate cocktail of corruption, inefficiency, and simple incompetence is holding the country back.—
Daniel Alarcón,
New Yorker,
4 June 2026
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Unfortunately, going cold turkey off a central nervous system depressant like GHB has some pretty unfortunate side-effects.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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Brexton Busch, the 11-year-old son of NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch, did something for the first time since the sudden and tragic passing of his father.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
11 June 2026
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In his hands, Tom can be buffoonish, tragic, doomed and heroic at once.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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Carting around unhappy campers in 100-degree weather and squeezing work into a shorter window is not exactly being poolside with a marg.—
Abby McCloskey,
Twin Cities,
4 June 2026
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Mansfield city hall a point of contention Melissa Perez, who ultimately lost to Simmons in last year’s council race, is one of those unhappy with Mansfield’s leadership and its direction.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Unlucky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unlucky. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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