Synonyms for unfortunate

Synonyms for (noun) unfortunate

Synonyms: unfortunate, unfortunate person

Definition: a person who suffers misfortune

Similar words: somebody, someone, soul, mortal, person, individual

Definition: a human being

Usage: there was too much for one person to do


Synonyms for (adj) unfortunate

Synonyms: inauspicious, unfortunate

Definition: not auspicious; boding ill

Similar words: unpromising

Definition: unlikely to bring about favorable results or enjoyment

Usage: faced an unpromising task; music for unpromising combinations of instruments


Synonyms: unfortunate

Definition: unsuitable or regrettable

Usage: an unfortunate choice of words; an unfortunate speech

Similar words: infelicitous

Definition: not appropriate in application; defective

Usage: an infelicitous remark; infelicitous phrasing; the infelicitous typesetting was due to illegible copy


Synonyms: unfortunate

Definition: not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune

Usage: an unfortunate turn of events; an unfortunate decision; unfortunate investments; an unfortunate night for all concerned

Similar words: abject

Definition: most unfortunate or miserable

Usage: the most abject slaves joined in the revolt; abject poverty


Similar words: black, calamitous, fatal, fateful, disastrous

Definition: (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin

Usage: the stock market crashed on Black Friday; a calamitous defeat; the battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign; such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory- Charles Darwin; it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it- Douglas MacArthur; a fateful error


Similar words: dispossessed, roofless, homeless

Definition: physically or spiritually homeless or deprived of security

Usage: made a living out of shepherding dispossed people from one country to another- James Stern


Similar words: hapless, poor, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, wretched, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic

Definition: deserving or inciting pity

Usage: a hapless victim; miserable victims of war; the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic- Galsworthy; piteous appeals for help; pitiable homeless children; a pitiful fate; Oh, you poor thing; his poor distorted limbs; a wretched life


Similar words: doomed, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, unlucky

Definition: marked by or promising bad fortune

Usage: their business venture was doomed from the start; an ill-fated business venture; an ill-starred romance; the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons- W.H.Prescott


Similar words: downtrodden

Definition: abused or oppressed by people in power


Similar words: unhappy, infelicitous

Definition: marked by or producing unhappiness

Usage: infelicitous circumstances; unhappy caravans, straggling afoot through swamps and canebrakes- American Guide Series


Similar words: too bad, regrettable

Definition: deserving regret

Usage: regrettable remarks; it's regrettable that she didn't go to college; it's too bad he had no feeling himself for church


Visual thesaurus for unfortunate