misfortune

/ˈmɪsˌfɔrtʃən/

/mɪsˈfɔtʃun/

Other forms: misfortunes

On a gloomy day, you may feel compelled to list your misfortunes: a broken umbrella, a broken heart, a broken toe. Misfortune means bad luck or the state of having bad luck.

Break misfortune into its parts and you get mis- meaning bad and fortune meaning chance or luck. Sometimes it can feel like misfortune follows you. Picture it as a gloomy psychic named "Miss Fortune" who can only see the bad things in your future.

Definitions of misfortune

1. noun

   an unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes
   synonyms: bad luck, ill luck, tough luck

   antonyms:

   good fortune

   an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes

   types:

   weakness

   the condition of being financially weak

   adversity, hard knocks, hardship

   a state of misfortune or affliction

   gutter, sewer, toilet

   a state of misfortune resulting in lost effort or money

   hard cheese

   bad luck

   ill-being

   lack of prosperity or happiness or health

   catastrophe, disaster

   a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune

   extremity

   an extreme condition or state (especially of adversity or disease)

   distress

   a state of adversity (danger or affliction or need)

   affliction

   a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity

   victimisation, victimization

   adversity resulting from being made a victim

   low-water mark, nadir

   an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything

   type of:

   circumstances, destiny, fate, fortune, lot, luck, portion

   your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
2. noun

   unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event
   synonyms: bad luck

   types:

   pity, shame

   an unfortunate development

   misadventure, mischance, mishap

   an instance of misfortune

   calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy

   an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

   adversity

   a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event

   hardship

   something that causes or entails suffering

   knock

   a bad experience

   accident

   an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury

   near miss

   an accidental collision that is narrowly avoided

   derailment

   an accident in which a train runs off its track

   ground loop

   a sharp uncontrollable turn made by an airplane while moving along the ground

   puncture

   loss of air pressure in a tire when a hole is made by some sharp object

   act of God, force majeure, inevitable accident, unavoidable casualty, vis major

   a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events

   apocalypse

   a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil

   famine

   a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death

   kiss of death

   something that is ruinous

   meltdown

   a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown

   plague

   any large-scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)

   visitation

   any disaster or catastrophe

   slip, trip

   an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall

   tidal wave

   an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide

   tsunami

   a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption

   crash

   (computer science) an event that causes a computer system to become inoperative

   type of:

   trouble

   an event causing distress or pain