ill luck

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ill luck

A black cat crossing your path is said to bring ill luck.

Definition

Noun: - Bad fortune; an unfortunate condition or circumstance resulting from unfavorable events or outcomes. This term refers to a state of experiencing consistently bad or adverse happenings, often perceived as being caused by chance or fate.

Usage

This noun is typically used to describe a general state of misfortune or a specific instance of very bad fortune. It often carries a tone of sympathy or resignation regarding unfortunate circumstances that seem beyond one's control. - It is commonly preceded by adjectives like "sheer," "pure," or "nothing but" to emphasize the extent of the misfortune. - It can be used with verbs such as "have," "bring," "be down on," or "attribute to."

Examples
Advanced Usage
  • "to be down on one's ill luck": to be experiencing a period of continuous misfortune.
    • After losing his job and his car breaking down, he was really down on his ill luck.
  • "a stroke/piece of ill luck": used to describe a single, specific unfortunate event.
    • Missing the flight due to traffic was a real stroke of ill luck.
Variants and Related Words
  • Misfortune (n): (a synonym) bad luck.
  • Hard luck (n): another phrase for difficult circumstances caused by bad fortune.
  • Ill-fated (adj): destined to fail or end unhappily.
    • The ill-fated voyage ended in shipwreck.
Synonyms
  • Misfortune
  • Bad luck
  • Hard luck
  • Adversity (though this implies difficulty more generally, not solely from chance)
Antonyms
  • Good luck
  • Fortune
  • Serendipity
Idioms and Related Phrases
  • "Ill luck comes in threes": A superstitious saying suggesting that bad events often happen in groups of three.
  • "To tempt ill luck": To act in a way that risks causing misfortune.
    • Not preparing for the interview is just tempting ill luck.
ill luck

A black cat crossing your path is said to bring ill luck.

Noun
  1. an unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes