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unlucky

adjective

Simple meaning

Unfortunate, showing misfortune.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhnluhkee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ənˈlʌki

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

  1. Unfortunate, marked by misfortune.

  2. Having ill luck.

  3. Bringing ill luck.

  4. Inauspicious.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

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More ways to use unlucky

  • “Friday the 13th is an unlucky date.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

unlucky dayunlucky accidentunlucky numberunlucky momentunlucky chanceunlucky star

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: unfortunate or marked by misfortune

unfortunateluckless

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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.