lucky

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Favoured by luck.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

luhkee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlʌki

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.

adjective

of people
Favoured by luck; fortunate; having good success or good fortune.
Having or bringing good fortune
Producing, or resulting in, good fortune

noun

bingo
Seven

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (of people) Favoured by luck; fortunate; having good success or good fortune.

Used this way, lucky 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: Moderate
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 lucky

“I felt very lucky to win the small prize.”

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

lucky starslucky daylucky chance

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

fortunate
Having unexpected good fortune.
auspicious
Conducive to success.
prosperous
Characterized by success.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

luckilyadverbDerived adverb
By good fortune.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

lucky dipnounCompound term
A game in which prizes (e.g., candies or coins) are concealed in a container and for a small sum a player can draw one out at random.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: favoured by luck

auspiciousprosperous

Antonyms

Sense: favoured by luck

unluckyluckless

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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.