网站首页  词典首页

请输入您要查询的词汇:

 

词汇 thesaurus_articles_having-bad-things-happen-by-chance
释义

having bad things happen by chance


These words all refer to people who have bad things happen to them by chance.

The most common word for this is unlucky. When unlucky is used alone to describe a person, it means that they have bad things happen to them by chance all the time. Often, unlucky is used with a noun that describes the type of person to is experiencing bad luck, or it is used in phrases like unlucky in love to describe an area in which a person is often has bad things happen to them by chance.


She is one of the unluckiest people I've ever met.
The show is about an unlucky gambler who is trying to rebuild his life.
Ah, I've always been unlucky in love.(= not able to have a successful romantic relationship)

The opposite of unlucky is lucky. Lucky is more common in general use than unlucky.


How lucky do you have to be to win three raffles in a row?

For more opposites of unlucky, see the article at lucky.

In slightly more formal language, you can call someone unfortunate if something bad happens to them by chance. When used this way, unfortunate is usually used before a noun, or after a reflexive pronoun.


The unfortunate souls who were lost during the voyage were commemorated once the ship reached port.
Some consider themselves unfortunate if they experience any travel delays, but delayed and cancelled flights are the norm for everyone these days.

Someone who has bad things happen to them by chance, and who is often unhappy or disappointed because of this, can be called hapless. Hapless is often used with other words like helpless.


He's always been a hapless, helpless bumbler.
The failure was chalked up to the inattention of the hapless mechanic, who was called away to take care of another last-minute emergency.

There are several literary words that are used to describe unlucky people. Star-crossed is often used to refer to someone in a romantic relationship that fails because of influences that seem to be outside of human control. Luckless is used to describe someone who has a bad thing happen to them during a particular activity or event. It is mostly used in literature, but it sometimes appears in sports writing in UK English as well. Ill-fated is the least common of these three words, and is used to refer to someone who has had many bad things, and often very severe or harsh things, happen to them in a particular activity or area of interest.


Behold the tale of two star-crossed lovers, doomed to spend their lives apart.
The luckless council member was caught in the middle of three major ethics investigations of her colleagues.
An own-goal by the luckless defender put the opposing team up by one.
The film was about an ill-fated adventurer trying to make a solo trek across Antarctica.

If a person has something bad happen to them by chance, but they think it is because they have somehow deserved it by doing something specific, you can say they are jinxed or, more humorously, that they are cursed.


All of her marriages have ended in the death of her spouse. She's jinxed, I tell you.
Every time I try to renew my driving licence, the office is closed unexpectedly. I'm cursed!

If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, something bad happens to you not because you did anything to deserve it, but only by chance.


The accident wasn't his fault at all - he was following all the traffic rules. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The opposite of the phrase in the wrong place at the wrong time is in the right place at the right time. If you are in the right place at the right time, you are in a situation where you can take advantage of an opportunity that is presented to you by chance.


I didn't do anything special to get the job. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

There are two phrases that are sometimes used when a person ends up getting something undesirable or unenjoyable because of chance. If they draw or get the short straw, they end up doing the least enjoyable thing in a range of activities because other people chose or were assigned more pleasant activities. More broadly, if someone gets the short end of the stick, they experience the bad effects of a situation that they do not control. These phrases are only used to describe specific instances where someone experiences the bad effects of a decision that is not in their control. Draw the short straw is informal, and get the short end of the stick is used in US English and Australian English.


"Who's cleaning up after the dog?" "Boo, looks like I drew the short straw."
USI didn't want to work on a holiday weekend, but I always get the short end of the stick.

Related articles


resulting in bad things happening by chance
随便看

 

反思网英语在线翻译词典收录了377474条英语词汇在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用英语词汇的中英文双语翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。

 

Copyright © 2005-2024 fscai.com All Rights Reserved 更新时间:2025/1/23 6:04:25