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misfortune

[ mis-fawr-chuhn ]

/ mɪsˈfɔr tʃən /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR misfortune ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

adverse fortune; bad luck.

an instance of this; mischance; mishap.

Origin of misfortune

1400–50; late Middle English. See mis-¹, fortune

SYNONYMS FOR misfortune

2 accident; disaster, calamity, catastrophe; reverse; blow.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR misfortune ON THESAURUS.COM

synonym study for misfortune

2. See affliction.

Words nearby misfortune

misfeature, misfeed, misfile, misfire, misfit, misfortune, misfunction, misgender, misgive, misgiving, misgovern

Example sentences from the Web for misfortune

It was forbidden to be eaten, and seen as having powers that beat back “demons and sorcerers” as well as “misfortune.”

The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity |William O’Connor |December 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
These gentlemen, said Clausewitz in brief, had the misfortune of mistaking the accoutrements of war for its essential nature.

How Clausewitz Invented Modern War |James A. Warren |November 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
In the case of Kudo-kai case boss Nomura, the appropriate Japanese proverb appears to be: “The mouth is the gate of misfortune.”

The Case of the Yakking Yakuza |Jake Adelstein |September 16, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But religion also compels us to fight the unjust, prejudiced systems that cause and perpetuate that misfortune.

Believers Must Fight for Gay Teens |Gene Robinson |May 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

She rattled off countless fundraisers in the past to help individual residents struck by misfortune.

Landslide Leaves Families Waiting for Death |Stacey Solie |March 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But I have wrestled with misfortune in vain; I have struggled with want, till want has overcome me.

Bentley's Miscellany, Volume II |Various
This is not to be regarded as accidental, or as a misfortune which could not be foreseen.

The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism |Bertrand Russell
He discovered, to his misfortune, a small grated window, to which he applied his eye.

Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers |Various
If he had the misfortune to cross their path, it brought him a world of woe, and finally his downfall.

The Philippine Islands |John Foreman
I then believed that I could not only rise superior to my misfortune, but could make that very misfortune the motive of my rise.

Basil |Wilkie Collins

British Dictionary definitions for misfortune

misfortune

/ (mɪsˈfɔːtʃən) /

noun

evil fortune; bad luck

an unfortunate or disastrous event; calamity