Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Unfortunate / Unblessed: Describes a person who lacks good fortune, happiness, or divine favor, often leading to a hard or sorrowful life.
   • Ill-fated / Cursed: Can imply a state of being doomed to misfortune or suffering, as if under a curse.

2. Interjection (exclamatory phrase):

   • "How unfortunate!" / "Poor thing!": Used to express pity, sympathy, or lament for someone's miserable or unlucky situation.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Đứa bé bị bỏ rơi thật là vô phước. (The abandoned child is truly unfortunate.)
  • Sống một cuộc đời vô phước. (To live an ill-fated life.)
• Interjection:
  • Vô phước! Nó mất việc lại còn bị ốm. (Poor thing! He lost his job and then got sick.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in Southern Vietnamese dialect. The standard Northern equivalent is "vô phúc", carrying identical meanings.
• Can describe a permanent state of misfortune or be used as a momentary exclamation of pity.

Variants and Related Words

• Vô phúc (adj, interj): The standard form meaning unfortunate, unlucky, ill-starred.
  • Số nó vô phúc. (Her lot in life is unlucky.)
• Bất hạnh (adj): Unfortunate, unhappy, miserable (more formal/literary).
• Khốn khổ (adj): Wretched, distressed, miserable.

Synonyms

• Unlucky: Having or marked by bad luck.
• Hapless: Unfortunate, especially in a pitiable sense.
• Wretched: In a state of deep misery or misfortune.

Related Idioms

• Vô phước vô phận: To be utterly without fortune or destiny; to be completely luckless and doomed.
  • Cô ta cảm thấy mình vô phước vô phận. (She felt she was utterly luckless and doomed.)
• Số vô phước: An unlucky fate or destiny.
  • Anh ấy than thở về số vô phước của mình. (He lamented his unlucky fate.)