Meaning & use
misfortune
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Bad luck, or an unlucky event or situation.
Grammar: Uncountable when talking about bad luck in general (e.g. 'a life of misfortune'); countable when referring to a specific unlucky event (e.g. 'a series of misfortunes').
Patterns
- a misfortune
- misfortune happens
- suffer misfortune
- have the misfortune to do something
She had the misfortune to lose her wallet on the day of the exam.
The family suffered one misfortune after another.
He blamed his misfortune on bad timing rather than poor planning.
nouncountable
A specific instance of bad luck; an unfortunate accident or event.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun when you mean one particular unlucky event, e.g. 'The fire was a great misfortune.'
Patterns
- a great misfortune
- a series of misfortunes
- it is a misfortune that
It was a misfortune that the train was cancelled just when we needed it.
The company's collapse was a misfortune for everyone involved.
Losing the keys was a small misfortune compared to the flood.
Word forms
| plural | misfortunes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a series of misfortunes
- A series of misfortunes left them homeless.
- have the misfortune to do something
- I had the misfortune to sit next to a very loud talker.
- suffer misfortune
- The village suffered misfortune when the river flooded.
- a great misfortune
- It was a great misfortune that the concert was cancelled.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bad luck
- Bad luck is the everyday, informal phrase; misfortune is slightly more formal and can also mean a specific unlucky event.
- adversity
- Adversity refers to a difficult or unpleasant situation, often over a period, while misfortune focuses on bad luck or a single unlucky event.
- tragedy
- Tragedy is much stronger and usually involves death or great suffering; misfortune can be minor.
Opposites
Word family
- fortunate adjective
- Lucky.
- fortunately adverb
- Luckily.
- unfortunate adjective
- Unlucky or regrettable.
Commonly confused: misfortune or unfortune?
misfortune vs unfortune
This is not a standard English word; the correct opposite of 'fortune' in this sense is 'misfortune'.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The pattern 'have the misfortune to do something' uses a to-infinitive. The other options use incorrect prepositions or verb forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “misfortune”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.