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Glite Dictionary
to believe in luck

to believe in luck

10 3.1
To trust that chance affects what happens
  • phrasal verb
  • /bɪˈliːv ɪn lʌk/
translation icon : creer en la suerte
  • I don't believe in luck in decision making.
  • really believe in luck
  • believe in luck?" he said
  • believe in luck, good

So yeah, I don't believe in luck.

Examples

  • "I don't believe in luck," Acta said.

    Blog text (25)

  • She believes in luck and always carries a lucky charm with her.

  • I wonder, do you believe in luck?

    Gosford Park (2001)

  • Not that she believed in luck, of course.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I don't really believe in luck.

    The Good Guy (2009)

  • I don't believe in luck.

    A Beautiful Mind (2001)

  • Don't believe in luck, but I believe in hope.

    Bully (2011)

  • "Don't you believe in luck?" he said.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I don't believe in luck or fate.

    Death of Evil (2009)

  • I know you don't believe in luck... but it got me through 10 fights.

    Robot Jox (1990)

Synonyms

to trust
vsto believe in luck
344 1.0

To expect something to happen with confidence

relies on random events as the reason outcomes happen

Surface Forms

believe in luck infinitive
believed in luck past
believed in luck past participle
believing in luck present participle
believes in luck third person singular

Morphology

believe + in + luck

The sense 'to trust that luck influences events' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'believe' (to accept or trust) + the preposition 'in' (to hold belief regarding) + 'luck' (chance). This straightforward verb + preposition + noun composition is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Believe in luck comes from people acting as if luck were a small helper they could get on their side by carrying charms or doing special actions. So, believe in luck means 'to trust that chance can change what happens'.