unfortunate English · revision 7657

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=mid-15th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʌnˈfɔː.t͡ʃə.nɪt/, /ʌnˈfɔː.t͡ʃə.nət/ ''(UK)''; /ʌnˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt/, /ʌnˈfɔɹt͡ʃ.nɪt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|un-|fortunate]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Unlucky, not favoured by fortune: the mid-15th century in Etymonline, the 15th century in MWU;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) 1530 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Infortunate, in the same sense, is older, and Middle English also had unfortuned.^(Etymonline) Marked by misfortune, disastrous, is from before 1548.^(OED 1989) The noun, an unfortunate person, is from 1683 (the 1630s in Etymonline),^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) and Fowler (1926) classed this use as ''stock pathos''.^(Etymonline) In the late 18th and early 19th centuries ''unfortunate woman'' was a euphemism for a prostitute,^(Etymonline) and the noun is so recorded from 1803;^(OED 1989) Etymonline quotes Hood's ''Bridge of Sighs'', ''One more Unfortunate, / Weary of breath''.^(Etymonline) Regrettable or unsuitable, as of a remark, is a later weakened sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) In Irish dialect an unfortunate was also a simpleton.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-15th century – unlucky.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1548 – disastrous.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1683 – the noun.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1803 – a prostitute.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having bad [[luck]]; unlucky.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Causing or accompanied by [[misfortune]]; [[disastrous]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[regrettable|alt=Regrettable]] or unsuitable: ''an unfortunate remark''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An unlucky person; a victim of bad luck.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unfortunately]]

+ * [[unfortunateness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fortunate]]

+ * [[fortune]]

+ * [[misfortune]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}