| 单词 | thesaurus/articles/having-bad-things-happen-by-chance |
| 释义 | Thesaurus article:having bad things happen by chancehaving bad things happen by chanceThese words all refer to people who have bad things happen to them by chance. The most common word for this isunlucky. When unlucky is used alone to describe a person, it means that they have bad things happen to them by chance all the time. Often,unluckyis used with a noun that describes the type of person to is experiencing bad luck, or it is used in phrases likeunlucky in loveto describe an area in which a person is often has bad things happen to them by chance. She is one of the unluckiest people I've ever met. The show is about an unlucky gambler who is trying to rebuild his life. Ah, I've always beenunlucky in love.(= not able to have a successful romantic relationship) The opposite ofunluckyislucky.Luckyis more common in general use thanunlucky. How lucky do you have to be to win three raffles in a row? For more opposites ofunlucky, see the article atlucky. In slightly more formal language, you can call someoneunfortunateif something bad happens to them by chance. When used this way,unfortunateis usually used before a noun, or after a reflexive pronoun. The unfortunate souls who were lost during the voyage were commemorated once the ship reached port. Some consider themselves unfortunate if they experience any travel delays, but delayed and cancelled flights are the norm for everyone these days. Someone who has bad things happen to them by chance, and who is often unhappy or disappointed because of this, can be calledhapless.Haplessis often used with other words likehelpless. He's always been a hapless, helpless bumbler. The failure was chalked up to the inattention of the hapless mechanic, who was called away to take care of another last-minute emergency. There are several literary words that are used to describe unlucky people.Star-crossedis often used to refer to someone in a romantic relationship that fails because of influences that seem to be outside of human control.Lucklessis used to describe someone who has a bad thing happen to them during a particular activity or event. It is mostly used in literature, but it sometimes appears in sports writing in UK English as well.Ill-fatedis the least common of these three words, and is used to refer to someone who has had many bad things, and often very severe or harsh things, happen to them in a particular activity or area of interest. Behold the tale of two star-crossed lovers, doomed to spend their lives apart. The luckless council member was caught in the middle of three major ethics investigations of her colleagues. An own-goal by the luckless defender put the opposing team up by one. The film was about an ill-fated adventurer trying to make a solo trek across Antarctica. If a person has something bad happen to them by chance, but they think it is because they have somehow deserved it by doing something specific, you can say they arejinxedor, more humorously, that they arecursed. All of her marriages have ended in the death of her spouse. She's jinxed, I tell you. Every time I try to renew my driving licence, the office is closed unexpectedly. I'm cursed! If you arein the wrong place at the wrong time, something bad happens to you not because you did anything to deserve it, but only by chance. The accident wasn't his fault at all - he was following all the traffic rules. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The opposite of the phrasein the wrong place at the wrong timeisin the right place at the right time. If you are in the right place at the right time, you are in a situation where you can take advantage of an opportunity that is presented to you by chance. I didn't do anything special to get the job. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time. There are two phrases that are sometimes used when a person ends up getting something undesirable or unenjoyable because of chance. If theydraworget the short straw, they end up doing the least enjoyable thing in a range of activities because other people chose or were assigned more pleasant activities. More broadly, if someonegets the short end of the stick, they experience the bad effects of a situation that they do not control. These phrases are only used to describe specific instances where someone experiences the bad effects of a decision that is not in their control.Draw the short strawis informal, andget the short end of the stickis used in US English and Australian English. "Who's cleaning up after the dog?" "Boo, looks like I drew the short straw." USI didn't want to work on a holiday weekend, but I always get the short end of the stick. Related articlesresulting in bad things happening by chance |
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