hapless

/'hæplis/
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hapless

A hapless tourist stands in the rain, looking at a torn map.

Definition

Adjective: - Unfortunate, unlucky: Describes someone or something that experiences or is marked by persistent bad luck, misfortune, or a lack of success. It implies a sense of being ill-fated or doomed to suffer.

Usage

The word "hapless" is used to describe a person, group, or situation that is pitiable due to persistent misfortune. It often carries a tone of sympathy or pity for the subject's unfortunate circumstances. It is a formal or literary term.

Examples
  • The hapless traveler lost his passport and all his money on the first day of his trip.
  • Despite their best efforts, the hapless team lost every game of the season.
  • The documentary followed the hapless attempts of the inventor to get his device funded.
Advanced Usage
  • "Hapless" can be used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like "was").
    • Attributive: The hapless victim of the scam.
    • Predicative: The victim of the scam was utterly hapless.
  • It is often used in journalism or narrative writing to evoke a sense of sympathy for someone who seems consistently unlucky or overwhelmed by circumstances.
Variants and Related Words
  • Haplessly (adverb): In an unlucky or unfortunate manner.
    • He wandered haplessly through the city, unable to find his hotel.
  • Haplessness (noun): The state or quality of being unlucky.
    • The story is a comedy of errors, highlighting the protagonist's haplessness.
Synonyms
  • Unfortunate: Having bad luck.
  • Luckless: Consistently without good luck.
  • Ill-fated: Destined to have an unfortunate outcome.
  • Wretched: In a state of deep misery or misfortune.
Antonyms
  • Fortunate: Having good luck.
  • Lucky: Favored by luck.
  • Blessed: Fortunate, often with a sense of divine favor.
Idioms and Phrases
  • While "hapless" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it is commonly found in phrases like:
    • Hapless victim: An unlucky person who suffers harm.
    • Hapless soul: An unfortunate person (often used for literary effect).
hapless

A hapless tourist stands in the rain, looking at a torn map.

Adjective
  1. deserving or inciting pity
    • a hapless victim
    • miserable victims of war
    • the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic- Galsworthy
    • piteous appeals for help
    • pitiable homeless children
    • a pitiful fate
    • Oh, you poor thing
    • his poor distorted limbs
    • a wretched life

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