misfortune

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-?

Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der.

Proto-Germanic *missaz

Proto-Germanic *missa-

Proto-West Germanic *missa-

Old English mis-

Middle English mys-

English mis-

English fortune

English misfortune

From mis- + fortune.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈfɔːtʃuːn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

misfortune (countable and uncountable, plural misfortunes)

1. (uncountable) Bad luck.

   Synonyms: mishap, misluck, mischance; see also Thesaurus:bad luck

   Antonyms: fortune, good fortune, good luck, luck; see also Thesaurus:good luck

   The worst tour I have ever had the misfortune to experience.

   • 2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track”, in in Guardian Unlimited‎^[1]:

     Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.

   • 1876, Ulysses S. Grant, Annual Message:

     It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training.

2. (countable) An undesirable event such as an accident.

   Synonyms: adversity, mishap

   Antonym: fortuity

   She had to come to terms with a number of misfortunes.

   • 1839, Charles Robert Darwin, “Chapter X”, in The Voyage of the Beagle:

     The snowstorm, which was the cause of their misfortune, happened in the middle of January, corresponding to our July, and in the latitude of Durham!

Derived terms

• misfortuned
• soldier of misfortune

Related terms

• misfortunate

Translations

bad luck

• Arabic: بَلاء (balāʔ), سُوءُ الحَظّ (sūʔu l-ḥaẓẓ)
• Belarusian: няшча́сце n (njaščáscje), го́ра (be) n (hóra), лі́ха n (líxa), бяда́ (be) f (bjadá)
• Bulgarian: неща́стие (bg) n (neštástie), неуда́ча (bg) f (neudáča), малша́нс m (malšáns)
• Catalan: desgràcia (ca) f, mala sort f
• Cherokee: ᎤᏲ ᎢᏳᏓᎵᏍᏓᏁᏗ (uyo iyudalisdanedi)
• Chichewa: tsoka
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壞運氣 / 坏运气 (huài yùnqì), 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng)

• Czech: smůla (cs) f, pech (cs) m (colloquial), neštěstí (cs) n
• Danish: ulykke (da) c
• Dutch: ongeluk (nl) n, pech (nl) m
• Esperanto: malbona fortuno
• Estonian: ebaõnn
• Finnish: epäonni (fi)
• French: malchance (fr) f
• Georgian: ფათერაკი (ka) (pateraḳi), უბედურება (ubedureba), მარცხი (marcxi)
• German: Pech (de) n, Ungemach (de) n
• Greek: ατυχία (el) f (atychía), κακοτυχία (el) f (kakotychía)

  Ancient Greek: δυστυχία (dustukhía)

• Hindi: दुर्भाग्य (hi) m (durbhāgya), अभाग्य (hi) m (abhāgya)
• Hungarian: balszerencse (hu)
• Indonesian: kesialan (id)
• Irish: amarrán m, mí-ádh m, drochrath m, mífhortún m

  Old Irish: dodcad m

• Italian: malasorte (it)
• Japanese: 不運 (ja) (ふうん, fuun)
• Korean: 불운(不運) (ko) (burun), 불행(不幸) (ko) (bulhaeng)
• Latin: adversa n pl, infortūnium n
• Latvian: nelaime f, neveiksme f
• Lithuanian: nelaimė f
• Lun Bawang: bakak
• Macedonian: несреќа f (nesreḱa)
• Malayalam: നിർഭാഗ്യം (niṟbhāgyaṁ)
• Māori: kōtua, kōtuatanga, aituā
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ulykke (no) m or f

• Occitan: malastre (oc), malparat (oc), desfortuna (oc) f
• Persian: بَدشانسی (fa) (badšânsi), بَدبَختی (fa) (badbaxti)
• Plautdietsch: Onjlekj n
• Polish: pech (pl) m, nieszczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: azar (pt), má sorte f
• Romanian: ghinion (ro) n, neșansă (ro) f
• Russian: неуда́ча (ru) f (neudáča), несча́стье (ru) n (nesčástʹje), го́ре (ru) n (góre), беда́ (ru) f (bedá)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-àdh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нѐсрећа f

  Latin: nèsreća f

• Slovak: smola (sk) f, nešťastie n
• Slovene: smóla (sl) f, nesreča (sl) f
• Spanish: infortunio (es) m, gafe (es) m, mala suerte f, desgracia (es) f, desventura (es) f
• Swedish: olycka (sv) c, otur (sv) c
• Tajik: бадбахтӣ (tg) (badbaxti)
• Telugu: దురదృష్టము (te) (duradr̥ṣṭamu)
• Ukrainian: неща́стя (uk) n (neščástja), го́ре n (hóre), біда́ (uk) f (bidá), невда́ча f (nevdáča), ли́хо (uk) n (lýxo)
• Vietnamese: họa (vi)
• Volapük: mifät (vo)

an undesirable event such as an accident

• Albanian: fatkeqësi (sq) f
• Arabic: مُصِيبَة f (muṣība), شَقْوَة f (šaqwa)
• Belarusian: няшча́сце n (njaščáscje), бяда́ (be) f (bjadá)
• Bulgarian: неща́стие (bg) n (neštástie)
• Catalan: infortuni m, desgràcia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng), 禍 / 祸 (zh) (huò)

• Comorian:

  Ngazidja Comorian: ɓaya class 5/6

• Danish: ulykke (da) c
• Dutch: tegenslag (nl) m
• Finnish: onnettomuus (fi)
• French: mésaventure (fr) f, malheur (fr) m
• German: Unglück (de) n, Unfall (de) m, Unheil (de) n, Mißgeschick (de) n, Missgeschick (de) n
• Greek: ατυχία (el) f (atychía), κακοτυχία (el) f (kakotychía), δυστυχία (el) (dystychía)

  Ancient Greek: συμφορά f (sumphorá), δυστύχημα n (dustúkhēma)

• Hindi: अभाग्य (hi) m (abhāgya)
• Hungarian: csapás (hu), szerencsétlenség (hu)
• Ingrian: onnettomus
• Irish: amaróid f, anachain (ga) f, tubaiste (ga) m
• Italian: disgrazia (it) f
• Japanese: 不幸 (ja) (ふこう, fukō), 災い (ja) (わざわい, wazawai)
• Korean: 불운(不運) (ko) (burun), 불행(不幸) (ko) (bulhaeng)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: لێقەومان (lêqewman)

• Latin: calamitas f, clades f, aerumma f, adversa n pl
• Latvian: bēda f
• Malayalam: അനർത്ഥം (ml) (anaṟtthaṁ)
• Māori: maiki, maikiroa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ulykke (no) m or f

• Occitan: malparada, malabosena, malastrada
• Polish: nieszczęście (pl) n
• Portuguese: desgraça (pt) f, infortúnio (pt) m, adversidade (pt) f
• Romanian: pățeală (ro) f, pățanie (ro) f, nenorocire (ro) f
• Russian: несча́стье (ru) n (nesčástʹje), беда́ (ru) f (bedá)
• Spanish: desgracia (es) f, infortunio (es) m, desventura (es) f, adversidad (es) f
• Swedish: olycka (sv) c
• Tagalog: kasawiang-palad
• Ukrainian: неща́стя (uk) n (neščástja), біда́ (uk) f (bidá)
• Urdu: نحوست f (nahūsat)
• Vietnamese: nạn (vi)
• Welsh: anffawd f, anap m or f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ჭირი (č̣iri)

Anagrams

• uniformest