LUCKLESS Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

luckless

adjective

Definition of luckless

as in unfortunate

having, prone to, or marked by bad luck a luckless team with the worst record in the league

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of luckless During these walking meditations my notebook starts to feel suspiciously similar to the luckless young climber’s selfie camera. — Brian Laidlaw, Longreads, 1 Sep. 2026 This year, the final was between Kerry, historically the sport’s most successful side, and Mayo, one of Ireland’s smaller counties by population and, in football terms, the most luckless. — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 27 July 2026 The one in which his tiny team of negotiators surrendered to the radicals ruling that luckless nation. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 20 June 2026 Any one of those locations could have allowed the heat of reentry to burn through the aluminum alloy walls of the spacecraft, killing any luckless crew that may have been inside, in much the kind of reentry breakup that doomed the shuttle Columbia and its seven-person crew in 2003. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Apr. 2026 Vasyanovych plays Roman, a luckless director who’s out of work and trying to shoot his latest film in a country whose dwindling population is still traumatized by the war. — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for luckless

Adjective

These unfortunate souls were supposed to stay in their birthplace, hoping church charity would sustain them.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
Artistic but flighty, Deborah ends up at her parents’ alma mater when an unfortunate incident gets her NYU Tisch School of the Arts acceptance rescinded.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of unfortunate

Adjective

Its success made Cohn a rich, if unhappy, man, at least for a long while.

— Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 6 Oct. 2026
What appeared to be a fairly normal election for a president halfway through his term — a probable setback, as unhappy voters register their discontent — has the potential, Cook said, to turn into a disaster for Republicans.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of unhappy

Adjective

Fooling hapless web surfers into giving away their credentials by faking secure websites is easy, by comparison.

— Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026
The destination of our hapless hero, a courier (Austin Abrams, absolutely awesome) who must transport an important package between medical facilities, is indeed the game’s residentially evil homebase of Racoon City.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of hapless

Adjective

The designer had felt the atmosphere shift after her disastrous outdoor cruise collection in Marseille in May 2024, which was marred by a mini-storm.

— Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2026
European leaders and oil executives at the time said that such a ban would be disastrous for long-term oil flow.

— Rebecca Schneid, Time, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of disastrous

Adjective

But this will take time that some unlucky teens simply don’t have.

— Kent Sepkowitz, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026
In the greatest misfortune of a very unlucky life, Fantine (Noémie Merlant) stops at the tavern the Thénardiers run on her way to Montreuil with her angelic daughter Cosette.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of unlucky

Adjective

And, of course, there won’t be many people who want to defend someone in that position — or, indeed, listen to any hard-luck stories — now the details have been outlined in court about his motorway rampage.

— Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
After Yankees relievers got the Twins to ground into inning-ending double plays in the 9th, 10th and 12th innings, John Schreiber (2-4) took the hard-luck loss.

— CBS News, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of hard-luck

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“Luckless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/luckless. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of luckless

adjective

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