misfortune

/ˌmɪsˈfɔːtʃuːn/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌmɪsˈfɔːrtʃən/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌmis-ˈfȯr-chən/ (ame, mw)

misfortune — 名詞

  • misfortunesingular
  • misfortunesplural

1. an unpleasant event or situation that happens because of bad luck rather than an

1.名詞B2
釋義

不幸；厄運

因運氣不好而發生的壞事或困境

an unpleasant event or situation that happens because of bad luck rather than anyone's fault, or the general state of experiencing such bad luck

例句

After losing her job, Élise faced one misfortune after another and nearly gave up.

Élise 失去了工作之後，接二連三地遭遇不幸，幾乎想要放棄。

one misfortune after another — repeated bad luck

The old fisherman blamed his misfortune on the storm that destroyed his boat.

那位老漁夫把他的不幸歸咎於摧毀他船隻的暴風雨。

blame misfortune on — attributing the cause

同義詞
  • bad luck

    more common in everyday speech; only refers to the state, not a specific event

  • adversity

    more formal, suggesting long-term hardship that tests one's character rather than a single event

  • hardship

    focuses on the difficulty or suffering caused by a situation, not on the role of chance

  • calamity

    much stronger; describes a major disaster causing widespread suffering

反義詞
  • good luck

    direct opposite, used in everyday contexts

  • fortune

    positive counterpart; both state and event senses

  • blessing

    an event that brings good, contrasting with misfortune's negative event sense

文法句型

have the misfortune to + infinitive

it is/was someone's misfortune that + clause

suffer / experience / meet with misfortune

a series of / one misfortune after another

用法筆記

Uncountable when referring to bad luck in general ('they have known great misfortune'); countable when referring to a specific unlucky event ('she told me about her many misfortunes'). Often follows the fixed phrase 'have the misfortune to + infinitive' for describing unlucky timing.

常見錯誤

❌I had a misfortune to lose my wallet.
✅I had the misfortune to lose my wallet.
💡'have the misfortune to' is a fixed expression that always takes 'the', not 'a'.
❌She has suffered many misfortune in her life.
✅She has suffered many misfortunes in her life.
💡As a countable noun, 'misfortune' takes the plural form when referring to multiple unlucky events.
❌The accident was a bad misfortune.
✅The accident was a misfortune.
💡'Misfortune' already means bad luck, so adding 'bad' is redundant.