misfortune

mis·for·tune  (ms-fôrchn)

n.

1.

a. Bad fortune or ill luck.

b. The condition resulting from bad fortune or ill luck: wanted to help those in misfortune.

2. A distressing occurrence: "Misfortunes are too apt to wear out Friendship" (Charlotte Charke).

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misfortune [mɪsˈfɔːtʃən]

n

1. evil fortune; bad luck

2. an unfortunate or disastrous event; calamity

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Fortune/Misfortune 

See Also: RICHES

1. Adversity was spreading over him like mold —Irvin S. Cobb
2. Bad moments, like good ones, tend to be grouped together —Edna O’Brien
3. Blessed as the meek who shall inherit the earth —Anon

   This illustrates how a quote can be transposed into a simile.

4. The day of fortune is like a harvest day, we must be busy when the corn is ripe —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
5. Disasters … rolling in the brain like pebbles —Denise Levertov
6. Fortune is as … brittle as glass —Publilius Syrus
7. Fortune is like glass: she breaks when she is brightest —Latin proverb
8. Fortune is like the market, where if you will bide your time, the price will fall —German proverb

   A variation by Francis Bacon begins like the above and finishes as follows: “If you can stay a little, the price will fall.”

9. Fortunes made in no time are like shirts made in no time; it’s ten to one if they hang long together —Douglas Jerrold
10. Fortune sits on him like a ton of shit —Irving Feldman
11. Good fortune, like ripe fruit, ought to be enjoyed while it is present —Epictetus
12. Good fortune seemed to be following me like a huge affectionate dog —John Braine
13. It’s a nightmare like trying to conquer the Himalayas on roller skates or swim the English Channel lashed to a cannon —T. Coraghessan Boyle
14. Luck is like having a rice dumpling fly into your mouth —Japanese proverb
15. A luckless man … the kind of man who would have gotten two complimentary tickets for the Titanic —William Mcllvanney

    The actual text in Scotch author Mcllvanney’s Papers of Tony Veitch reads: “The kinnaa man woulda got two complimentary tickets for the Titanic.”

16. Luck shines in his face like good health —Anon
17. Misfortunes disappeared, as though swept away by a great flood of sunlight —Emile Zola
18. Misfortunes, like the owl, avoid the light —Charles Churchill
19. Misfortunes … passed over her like wild geese —Ellen Glasgow
20. Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle —James Russell Lowell
21. The storms of adversity, like those of the ocean, rouse the faculties —Captain Frederick Marryatt
22. Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head —William Shakespeare
23. Tried to conceal his misfortune as if it were a vice —Mihail Lermontov
24. To wait for luck is like waiting for death —Japanese proverb

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	misfortune - unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event bad luck trouble - an event causing distress or pain; "what is the trouble?"; "heart trouble" pity, shame - an unfortunate development; "it's a pity he couldn't do it" misadventure, mischance, mishap - an instance of misfortune calamity, catastrophe, tragedy, disaster, cataclysm - an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster" adversity - a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event; "a period marked by adversities" hardship - something that causes or entails suffering; "I cannot think it a hardship that more indulgence is allowed to men than to women"- James Boswell; "the many hardships of frontier life" knock - a bad experience; "the school of hard knocks"
	2.	misfortune - an unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes bad luck, ill luck, tough luck circumstances, luck, destiny, fate, fortune, lot, portion - your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you); "whatever my fortune may be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was her portion" weakness - the condition of being financially weak; "the weakness of the dollar against the yen" adversity, hard knocks, hardship - a state of misfortune or affliction; "debt-ridden farmers struggling with adversity"; "a life of hardship" gutter, sewer, toilet - misfortune resulting in lost effort or money; "his career was in the gutter"; "all that work went down the sewer"; "pensions are in the toilet" hard cheese - bad luck good fortune, good luck, luckiness - an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes

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misfortune

noun

1. (often plural) bad luck, adversity, hard luck, ill luck, infelicity, evil fortune She seemed to enjoy the misfortunes of others.

2. mishap, loss, trouble, trial, blow, failure, accident, disaster, reverse, tragedy, harm, misery, setback, hardship, calamity, affliction, tribulation, whammy (informal, chiefly U.S.), misadventure, bummer (slang), mischance, stroke of bad luck, evil chance He had had his full share of misfortunes.
relief, fortune, good luck

Quotations
"In the misfortune of our best friends, we always find something which is not displeasing to us" [Duc de la Rochefoucauld Réflexions ou Maximes Morales]
"misfortune: the kind of fortune which never misses" [Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary]

Proverbs
"Misfortunes never come singly"

Translations

misfortune [mɪsˈfɔːtʃən] N → desgracia f
companion in misfortune → compañero/a m/f en la desgracia
I had the misfortune to meet him → tuve la desgracia de conocerlo
it is his misfortune that he is lame → tiene la mala suerte de ser cojo
that's your misfortune! → ¡mala suerte!

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misfortune [ˌmɪsˈfɔː^rtʃuːn] n → malchance f, malheur m

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misfortune

n (= ill fortune, affliction) → (schweres) Schicksal or Los nt; (= bad luck) → Pech nt no pl; (= unlucky incident) → Missgeschick nt; companion in misfortune → Leidensgenosse m → /-genossin f; it was my misfortune or I had the misfortune to … → ich hatte das Pech, zu …; a victim of misfortune → ein Unglücksrabe or Pechvogel m; misfortune seldom comes alone → ein Unglück kommt selten allein (prov); financial misfortunes → finanzielle Fehlschläge pl

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misfortune [mɪsˈfɔːtʃ/ən] n → disgrazia, sventura, sfortuna
she has the misfortune to be blind → ha la sventura di essere cieca
that's YOUR misfortune! → peggio per te!

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misfortune

n misfortune [misˈfoːtʃən]

(a piece of) bad luck I had the misfortune to break my leg. ongeluk سوء حَظ лош късмет neštěstí uheld das Unglück δυστυχία, κακοτυχία desgracia õnnetus بدشانسی huono onni malchance חוֹסֶר מַזָל बदकिस्मती nesreća, nezgoda balszerencse kemalangan ógæfa sfortuna 不運 불행 nelaimė nelaime malang ongeluk uhell, ond skjebne pech infelicidade ghinion, nenorocire несчастье nešťastie nesreča nesreća olycka, missöde, otur โชคร้าย talihsizlik 不幸 нещастя; невдача بد قسمتی điều không may 不幸

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misfortune → سوء الحظ smůla ulykke Pech κακοτυχία desgracia epäonni malchance nesreća sfortuna 不運 불운 ongelukje uhell nieszczęście desgraça несчастье olycka ความโชคร้าย talihsizlik sự bất hạnh 不幸