ill-fated

adjective

unlucky; doomed.

“My grandfather was originally scheduled to travel on the ill-fated last voyage of the RMS Lusitania, but thankfully had to change his plans at the last minute.”

Meanings

adjectiveill-fated (comparative more ill-fated, superlative most ill-fated)

comparative more ill-fated · superlative most ill-fated

  1. unlucky; doomed.

    My grandfather was originally scheduled to travel on the ill-fated last voyage of the RMS Lusitania, but thankfully had to change his plans at the last minute.

    5 more examples

    The engine of the ill-fated mail was Stephenson, one of Whale's 4-6-0 "Experiment" class, which fact led to sensational outcryings in the daily papers about the scandal of "experimental machines" being used on fast trains!

    1952 March, R. S. McNaught, “Joint Line Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 196

    In February 1927, eight short months before minstrel Al Jolson sang “My Mammy” to enthralled moviegoers who had never before heard pictures talk, the ill-fated silent movie industry had itself one last fling: Paramount Pictures' romantic comedy It, […]

    2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 24

    Despite his ill-fated spell at Anfield, he received a warm reception from the same Liverpool fans he struggled to win over before being sacked midway through last season.

    2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport

    With Christie's words about "all-talk-no-action" in mind, notice that Obama and his two secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, as well as his vice president, Joe Biden, were all senators, the last two serving for two or three decades, respectively. Not forgetting the ill-fated secretary of defense, Senator Chuck Hagel.

    2016 February 8, Marwan Bishara, “Why Obama fails the leadership test in the Middle East”, in Al Jazeera English

    Yingluck is facing a possible 10-year prison term on charges of negligence linked to an ill-fated rice subsidy programme that cost the state billions of dollars.

    2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera

    Synonyms: accursed, fey, foreboding, inauspicious, accursed, condemned, cursed, star-crossed

Synonyms & antonyms

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivemarked by or promising bad fortune

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Ancient Greek δύσμορος, δύσποτμος
  • δύσμορος (dúsmoros)unlucky; doomed
  • δύσποτμος (dúspotmos)unlucky; doomed
  • κακόμοιρος (kakómoiros)unlucky; doomed
Bulgarian злочест
  • злочест (zločest)unlucky; doomed
French fatidique, malheureux
  • fatidiqueunlucky; doomed
  • malheureuxunlucky; doomed
German unglücklich, vom Pech verfolgt
  • unglücklichunlucky; doomed
  • vom Pech verfolgtunlucky; doomed
  • verhängnisvollunlucky; doomed
  • zum Scheitern verurteiltunlucky; doomed
Italian malaugurato, sfortunato
  • malauguratounlucky; doomed
  • sfortunatounlucky; doomed
  • predestinatounlucky; doomed
Māori wairuatoa, maikiroa
  • wairuatoaunlucky; doomed
  • maikiroaunlucky; doomed
Polish nieszczęsny, niefortunny
  • nieszczęsnyunlucky; doomed
  • niefortunnyunlucky; doomed
  • feralnyunlucky; doomed
Russian злополу́чный, несчастли́вый
  • злополу́чный (zlopolúčnyj)unlucky; doomed
  • несчастли́вый (nesčastlívyj)unlucky; doomed
  • несча́стный (nesčástnyj)unlucky; doomed
Spanish malhadado, empecatado
  • malhadadounlucky; doomed
  • empecatadounlucky; doomed
Cite this entry
APA

ill-fated. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-fated

MLA

“ill-fated.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-fated. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ill-fated,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ill-fated.

Source: ill-fated on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.