unlucky

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An unlucky person or thing has bad luck that happens to them, like tripping on a sidewalk.

When we say someone's lucky or unlucky, we usually mean how their life goes. If you always seem to find parking spots just as others are leaving, some might call you lucky. On the other hand, if you always spill coffee on your shirt in the morning, they'd likely say you're unlucky. The word is often used when people talk about chance events or small mishaps that happen repeatedly to someone. It's not a formal judgment about their whole life, just a way to describe how their luck seems to be going at the moment.

How common is "unlucky"?

Word unlucky is considered rare in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
Definitions

adjective

  • Unfortunate, marked by misfortune.

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down on one's luckfortunelessill-bodingill-fatedill-starredlucky

Real examples of "unlucky" in context

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