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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 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

There are no Cubs players involved in the TikTok series, the Cubs told me, which is unfortunate since Crow-Armstrong has acting in his DNA — his mother and father are both actors — and probably would be at least as good as Damon.

— Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026
Every mosquito has a type Count me among the unfortunate souls who are mosquito magnets; something about my body chemistry is irresistible to those tiny bloodsucking fiends.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of unfortunate

Adjective

Arjun Poudel, a health reporter in Nepal, was commuting to the offices of the Kathmandu Post, in the country’s capital, when messages started coming in about a disastrous flood in his home town, close to the border with China.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026
Since a disastrous debut, the rookie right-hander has allowed just two runs over his last 9 2/3 innings with 15 strikeouts.

— Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of disastrous

Adjective

Since antiquity, people have believed that planting a mulberry tree in front of one’s house is unlucky.

— Jonathan Flint, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026
After a decision is made, the library captures the outcome and distinguishes between whether the decision itself was sound and whether the outcome was simply lucky or unlucky.

— Steve Banker, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of unlucky

Adjective

Caleb’s reputation Until now, Caleb has enjoyed a reputation as a hard-luck farmboy who was led on by Kenzie and never got a fair shake in the villa.

— Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2026
The hard-luck righty is 0-8 in 12 starts since June 12, in part because the Orioles have provided him only 15 runs of support in those dozen outings.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026