unfortunate
adjectivenouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ʌnˈfɔː.t͡ʃə.nɪt//
- United Kingdom//ʌnˈfɔː.t͡ʃə.nət//
- Canada//ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt//
- Canada//ʌnˈfɔɹt͡ʃ.nɪt//
- //ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nət//
Not favored by fortune.
adjective
- 1
Not favored by fortune.
Thus ended the life of one of the most unfortunate of small railway concerns.
- 2
Marked or accompanied by or resulting in misfortune.
But as the tower and towee reached the cross-roads again, another car, negligently driven, came round the corner, hit the Morris, and severed the tow rope, sending the unfortunate car back again into the shop window[…]
- 3
Regrettable or unsuitable.
Etymology
From un- + fortunate, doublet of infortunate.
noun
- 1
An unlucky person; one who has fallen into bad circumstances.
Of those adults who used the trains every day, about half now travel daily by bus, [...] one unfortunate is reported to be walking to and from his employment.
Unlike the unfortunates aboard the Triumph, we viewers are in and out of the situation in under an hour and feel like we have had quite a lot of fun in the process.
- 2
archaicA prostitute.
Forms
- plural
- unfortunates
- comparative
- more unfortunate
- superlative
- most unfortunate