Meanings
Murphy's law1
alternative Murphy's Law
- An adage which states that if anything can go wrong, then it will.
I ran into the perfect exemplification of “Murphy's law” at one university, where everything that could go wrong did!
1953, Anne Roe, The Making of a Scientist, page 2142 more examples
Thus we find that Murphy's Law is not a coincidence at all, but the consequence of a deep ‘anthropomurphic^([sic]) principle’: any universe built along conventional lines that contains intelligent polymurphs will conform to Murphy's Law.
2004, Ian Stewart, Math Hysteria, OUP Oxford, →ISBN‘It was an application of Murphy's Law,’ said one Vatican dignitary in a resigned voice. What was Murphy's Law? ‘Murphy's Law,’ said the dignitary, ‘is that everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.’
2014, Muriel Spark, The Golden Fleece, Carcanet, →ISBNSynonyms: Sod's law, Finagle's law
Murphy's Law2
- Alternative letter-case form of Murphy's law.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAn adage which states that if anything can go wrong, then it will.
More synonyms by meaning
nounhumorous axiom stating that anything that can go wrong will go wrong
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Named after Edward A. Murphy Jr. (1918–1990), a development engineer who worked for a brief time on the rocket-sled experiments of the United States Air Force in 1948.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque Murphyren legea
- Murphyren legeaadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Chinese Mandarin 摩菲定理, 墨菲定律
- 摩菲定理 (Mófēi dìnglǐ)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
- 墨菲定律 (Mòfēi dìnglǜ)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Czech Murphyho zákon
- Murphyho zákonadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Finnish Murphyn laki
- Murphyn lakiadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
French loi de Murphy
- loi de Murphyadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
German Murphys Gesetz
- Murphys Gesetzadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Greek νόμος του Μέρφυ
- νόμος του Μέρφυ (nómos tou Mérfy)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Hungarian Murphy törvénye
- Murphy törvényeadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Japanese マーフィーの法則
- マーフィーの法則 (Māfī-no hōsoku)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Korean 머피의 법칙
- 머피의 법칙 (meopiui beopchik)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Norwegian Loven om tingenes iboende faenskap.
- Loven om tingenes iboende faenskap.adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Polish prawo Murphy'ego
- prawo Murphy'egoadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Portuguese Lei de Murphy
- Lei de Murphyadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Russian зако́н по́длости, зако́н Мёрфи
- зако́н по́длости (zakón pódlosti)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
- зако́н Мёрфи (zakón Mjórfi)adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Spanish ley de Murphy
- ley de Murphyadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Swedish lagen om alltings jävlighet, lagen om alltings inneboende ondska
- lagen om alltings jävlighetadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
- lagen om alltings inneboende ondskaadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
- Murphys lagadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Turkish Murphy kanunları
- Murphy kanunlarıadage which states that if anything can go wrong it will
Cite this entry
Murphy's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Murphy's%20law
“Murphy's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Murphy's%20law. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Murphy's law,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Murphy's%20law.
Source: Murphy's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.