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luck

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

luhk
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlʌk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.

  2. especially

    A favourable chance occurrence.

  3. A superstitious feeling that brings fortune or success.

verb

  1. intransitiveinformal

    To find something through good fortune; used with into, on, onto or upon.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.

Used this way, luck is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It suits reflective writing more than quick conversation.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Slightly formal
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Fortunate or pleasantly unexpected
Usage feel
Reflective and slightly elevated

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use luck

  • “It was my good luck to be there.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Unknown

better luck

Find

good luck

Other combinations

bad luckill luckhard luck

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • luckyadjectiveDerived adjective

    Having or bringing good fortune.

  • luckilyadverbDerived adverb

    By good fortune.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • luck intoverbCompound term

    Take possession of.

  • luck itverbCompound term

    Act by relying on one's luck.

  • luck outverbCompound term

    Succeed by luck.

  • luck throughverbCompound term

    Act by relying on one's luck.

  • tough lucknounCompound term

    An unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes.

  • bad lucknounCompound term

    An unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: something that happens to someone by chance

chance

verb

Sense: to find something through good fortune

fortune

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.