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rtunate; unsuccessful; not prosperous; unlucky; attended with misfortune; unhappy; as, an unfortunate adventure; an unfortunate man; an unfortunate commander; unfortunate business. -- n.

; chance; contingency; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character; a casualty; a mishap; as, to die by an accident. Of moving accidents by flood and field. Shak. Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident: It is the very place God meant for thee. Trench.

In hostile opposition to; unfavorable; unpropitious; contrary to one's wishes; unfortunate; calamitous; afflictive; hurtful; as, adverse fates, adverse circumstances, things adverse. Happy were it for us all if we bore prosperity as well and wisely as we endure an adverse fortune. Southey. Adverse possession (Law), a p…

In an adverse manner; inimically; unfortunately; contrariwise.

An institution for the protection or relief of some class of destitute, unfortunate, or afflicted persons; as, an asylum for the aged, for the blind, or for the insane; a lunatic asylum; an orphan asylum.

In a bad manner; poorly; not well; unskillfully; imperfectly; unfortunately; grievously; so as to cause harm; disagreeably; seriously.

Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Athwart; adversely; unfortunately; peevishly; fretfully; with ill humor.

Unprosperous; unfortunate. [Obs.] Spenser.

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.

Attended with suffering or disaster; very unfortunate; calamitous; ill-fated; as, a disastrous day; a disastrous termination of an undertaking. Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances. Shak. -- Dis*as"trous*ly, adv. -- Dis*as"trous*ness, n.

Misadventurous; unfortunate. [Obs.] Spenser.

nce, good or bad; to be attended with any circummstances or train of events, fortunate or unfortunate; as, he fared well, or ill. So fares the stag among the enraged hounds. Denham. I bid you most heartily well to fare. Robynson (More's Utopia). So fared the knight between two foes. Hudibras.

e a wrong road or direction; to wander or stray. (b) To depart from virtue. (c) To happen unfortunately. (d) To miss success. -- To let go, to allow to depart; to quit one's hold; to release.

Unfortunate. Cf. Grace, n., 4. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Grace"less*ly, adv. -- Grace"less-ness, n.

To use or do for the first time, esp. so as to make fortunate or unfortunate; to try experimentally. No contrivance of our body, but some good man in Scripture hath handseled it with prayer. Fuller.

Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid. Dryden.

A slave in ancient Sparta; a Spartan serf; hence, a slave or serf. Those unfortunates, the Helots of mankind, more or less numerous in every community. I. Taylor.

good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable; unfavorable. Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors. Bacon. There 's some ill planet reigns. Shak.

Fated to be unfortunate; unlucky; as, an ill-starred man or day.