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MISFORTUNE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("misfortune" is a kind of...):
trouble (an event causing distress or pain)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "misfortune"):
pity; shame (an unfortunate development)
misadventure; mischance; mishap (an instance of misfortune)
calamity; cataclysm; catastrophe; disaster; tragedy (an event resulting in great loss and misfortune)
adversity (a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event)
hardship (something that causes or entails suffering)
knock (a bad experience)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes
Synonyms:
bad luck; ill luck; misfortune; tough luck
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("misfortune" is a kind of...):
circumstances; destiny; fate; fortune; lot; luck; portion (your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "misfortune"):
weakness (the condition of being financially weak)
adversity; hard knocks; hardship (a state of misfortune or affliction)
gutter; sewer; toilet (misfortune resulting in lost effort or money)
hard cheese (bad luck)
Antonym:
good fortune (an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes)
Context examples:
“Whom?” I asked; but the poor wretch was weeping again over his misfortunes.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
“These are heavy misfortunes,” replied Elizabeth.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
I come now to the relation of a misfortune, which about this time befell Mrs. John Dashwood.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The misfortune of your birth ought to make you particularly careful as to your associates.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
“It is your misfortune not to have come under my influence earlier,” said he.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
By some means or other she must have had the misfortune to offend him.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
By sitting together upstairs, they avoided a great deal of the disturbance of the house; Fanny had peace, and Susan learned to think it no misfortune to be quietly employed.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
This at first seemed a great misfortune, for I knew a one-legged man could not do very well as a wood-chopper.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
To cap misfortune, the postman, in his afternoon round, brought him five returned manuscripts.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
After a period, during which I sat in bewilderment, I set myself to try and discover what sudden misfortune could have befallen my companions.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
