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ident; disaster; mishap; mischance. Consider why the change was wrought, You 'll find his misfortune, not his fault. Addison.

Unfortunate. [Obs.]

To abate, impair, or debase by mixture; to allay; as, to alloy pleasure with misfortunes.

beginning of the next, with an adjunct idea; as, "He retained his virtues amidst all his misfortunes -- misfortunes which no prudence could foresee or prevent."

Anything which brings misfortune upon one, or causes failure in an effort or enterprise; a reverse. [Scot.]

A goblin, in the shape of a large dog, portending misfortune. [Also written barguest.]

a state of gloomy, serious thought; -- usually followed by over or on; as, to brood over misfortunes. Brooding on unprofitable gold. Dryden. Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit. Hawthorne. When with downcast eyes we muse and brood. Tennyson.

Any great misfortune or cause of misery; -- generally applied to events or disasters which produce extensive evil, either to communities or individuals.

Any injury of the body from accident; hence, death, or other misfortune, occasioned by an accident; as, an unhappy casualty.

final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune. The strange catastrophe of affairs now at London. Bp. Buret. The most horrible and portentous catastrophe that nature ever yet saw. Woodward.

ntive to examine probable effects and consequences of acts with a view to avoid danger or misfortune; prudent; circumspect; wary; watchful; as, a cautious general. Cautious feeling for another's pain. Byron. Be swift to hear; but cautious of your tongue. Watts.

Literally, suffering with another; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration. Womanly igenuity set to work by womanly compassion. Macaulay.

To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts. By misfortune it cracked in the coling. Boyle. The mirror cracked from side to side. Tennyson.

Affiction regarded as a test of patience or virtue; trial; disappointment; opposition; misfortune. Heaven prepares a good man with crosses. B. Jonson.

The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment. The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance. Shak. All that I eat, or drink, or shall beget, Is propagated curse. Milton. The curse of Scotland (Card Playing), the nine of diamonds. -- Not worth a curse. See under…

Lowness of spirits occasioned by grief or misfortune; mental depression; melancholy. What besides, Of sorrow, and dejection, and despair, Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring. Milton.

Misfortune; mishap. [Obs.] Sir W. Raleigh.

An adverse or unfortunate event, esp. a sudden and extraordinary misfortune; a calamity; a serious mishap. But noble souls, through dust and heat, Rise from disaster and defeat The stronger. Longfellow.

Misfortune. [Obs.] Spenser.

Severe training, corrective of faults; instruction by means of misfortune, suffering, punishment, etc. A sharp discipline of half a century had sufficed to educate Macaulay.