Dictionary

unlucky en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ʌnˈlʌki/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English lucky English unlucky From un- + lucky.

Meanings

1. Unfortunate, marked by misfortune.
   • I pray you in your Letters, / When you ſhall theſe vnluckie deeds relate, / Speake of me, as I am. […] / Of one, whoſe ſubdu'd Eyes, / Albeit un-vsed to the melting moode, / Drops teares as faſt as the Arabian Trees / Their Medicinable gumme. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act V, scene ii, page 338:
   • By random chance alone, 99 times out of 100, the Lions should have won an NFL or NFC championship. Worse for arguably the league’s unluckiest fan base, the Lions haven’t really been competitive. 2022 February 12, Harry Enten, “Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams: The unluckiest sports teams and other Super Bowl musings”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2025:
   • For those unlucky enough to be on a service without lavatory provision, we can only speculate as to how passengers improvised if caught short. For men, it might be possible to urinate, albeit at the risk of offending fellow passengers - there were reports of passengers being hauled up before the courts for 'micturition' in coaches during the 19th century. 2020 January 2, Dr Mike Esbester, “Waste disposal...”, in Rail, page 36:
   • Her unluckier daughter and great-granddaughter have been tarred by amour's sloppy brush; but Mrs. Keppel, as her biographer Diana Souhami has written, "turned adultery into an art." 1999 February 14, Liesl Schillinger, “The Lost Art of the Love Affair”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021:
   • "So he has a chance," said Connie. "Buckley's chance, the way his luck is. Fell out with his girl he did, and lost his job, and now 'e's goin' to lose 'is life. The unluckiest man that ever lived." 1936, Andrew Barton ("Banjo") Paterson, The Shearer′s Colt:
2. Inauspicious.
3. Having ill luck.
4. Bringing ill luck.
   • Country like Nepal, India, Bhutan and Myanmar, people who follows Hindu religion, they consider the numbers 0, 1, 8, 10, 12, 19 and 28 as unlucky numbers, bad luck or evil spirits etc. These numbers are called oudenophobia, henophobia, octophobia, decaphobia, dodecaphobia, enneadecaphobia and eikosioctophobia respectively. 2020 August 14, Rajendra Kunwar, “MATHEMATICS PHOBIA: CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND WAYS TO OVERCOME”, in International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, volume 8, number 8, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2024, page 820:
5. (obsolete) Mischievous.
   • “The brat continued yelpin' an' yowlin', an' aitin' more nor his three brothers put together, an' playin' all sorts uv unlucky thricks, for he was mighty mischievyously inclined, till it happened one day that Tim Carrol, the blind piper, goin' his rounds, called in and sot down by the fire to hav' a bit o' chat wid the woman o' the house.” 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 523:

Forms

Antonyms

lucky

Deriveds

unluckiest · unluckier · unluckily · unlucky for some · unluckiness

Hyponyms

cursed · ominous · shit out of luck · doomed

Relateds

born with a wooden ladle in one's mouth · evil eye · Friday the thirteenth · born under an evil star · predict

Synonyms

peak · unhappy · misfortuned · ill-fated · unchancy · down on one's luck · fortuneless · misadventurous · mischanceful · hapless · unpropitious · thwart · snakebit · unfavourable · unlucky · luckless · ill-boding · unfortunate · wanchancy · inauspicious · infelicitous · infortunate · ill-starred

Translations (94)

es yeta (bringing ill luck) · es desafortunado (unfortunate) · ca desafortunat (unfortunate) · da unheldig (unfortunate) · fi pahaenteinen (inauspicious) · cmn 倒霉 (unfortunate) · sip ཇུས་ཉེས (unfortunate) · mk не́среќен (unfortunate) · vi xui xẻo (unfortunate) · ru несчастли́вый (bringing ill luck) · hy ձախորդ (having ill luck) · de es bringt Unglück (bringing ill luck) · bg неудачен (having ill luck) · de unglücklich (unfortunate) · ru неуда́чливый (having ill luck) · ru несчастли́вый (unfortunate) · la infēlix (having ill luck) · yue 唔好彩 (unfortunate) · pt azarado (unfortunate) · ru неуда́чный (unfortunate) · ru неуда́чливый (unfortunate) · ang unġesǣliġ (unfortunate) · sq lumëmadh (having ill luck) · vi bất hạnh (unfortunate) · ga anrathach (bringing ill luck) · es salado (having ill luck) · tr uğursuz (unfortunate) · sq lumëzi (having ill luck) · ga anrathach (having ill luck) · oc malastrugat (unfortunate) · de unglückbringend (bringing ill luck) · ota اوغورسز (bringing ill luck) · grc δυστυχής (unfortunate) · ro nenorocos (unfortunate) · fr malchanceux (having ill luck) · af ongelukkig (unfortunate) · mi ringahoea (unfortunate) · eo malbonŝanca (having ill luck) · vi rủi (unfortunate) · ota قوتسز (bringing ill luck) · ota اوغورسز (unfortunate) · mk ко́бен (bringing ill luck) · pdt onjlekjlich (unfortunate) · cmn 不走運 /不走运 (unfortunate) · ru неблагоприя́тный (inauspicious) · no unheldig (unfortunate) · fi epäonninen (unfortunate) · mk не́среќен (having ill luck) · es yetatore (bringing ill luck) · ca infortunat (having ill luck) · la infēlix (unfortunate) · tr uğursuz (inauspicious) · fi huono-onninen (having ill luck) · ru злове́щий (inauspicious) · vi xui (unfortunate) · es basiliqueado (having ill luck) · ota قوتسز (inauspicious) · vi không may (unfortunate) · bg нещастен (unfortunate) · mi wairuatoa (unfortunate) · eo malbonŝanciga (bringing ill luck) · fi epäonninen (bringing ill luck) · sq gullmëzi (having ill luck) · mi whakarapa (unfortunate) · fr poissard (having ill luck) · cmn 不幸 (unfortunate) · ota بختسز (inauspicious) · ota اوغورسز (inauspicious) · ru невезу́чий (having ill luck) · ca malaurat (inauspicious) · eo malbonŝanca (unfortunate) · yi שלימזלניק (having ill luck) · tr uğursuz (bringing ill luck) · es yetudo (bringing ill luck) · ota قوتسز (unfortunate) · it sfortunato (unfortunate) · es mufa (bringing ill luck) · oc desfortunat (unfortunate) · es fucú (bringing ill luck) · hi अभागा (unfortunate) · la infelix (inauspicious) · hi अभागा (having ill luck) · es infortunado (unfortunate) · gu કમનસીબ (having ill luck) · ckb بار کەوتوو (unfortunate) · fi epäonninen (having ill luck) · ota بختسز (bringing ill luck) · mk зло́кобен (inauspicious) · vi rủi ro (unfortunate) · mk неблагопри́јатен (inauspicious) · es sapeado (having ill luck) · la infēlix (bringing ill luck) · ru недо́брый (bringing ill luck) · ota بختسز (unfortunate)