ill luck
1
3.8
- noun
:
mala suerte
- Yes, other men have ill luck, too.
Examples
-
But he had ill luck, and James's forces were defeated at Sheriffsmuir—before James himself even arrived.
Fiction book (1992) -
The moment you appeared, you brought me nothing but trouble and ill luck.
-
Sorry about your ill luck with the rings!
Blog text (13) -
"But with my long history of ill luck, who knows?" Barfoot says.
Fiction book (1990) -
That came from a lack of foresight and astounding ill luck.
Fiction book (2000) -
Landing in such a forsaken place seemed sufficient misfortune without courting further ill luck.
Fiction book (1996) -
It was my ill luck that no other customers were in this department of Kenilworth's at the moment, and so the clerk might fiercely concentrate her attention on me.
Fiction book (1998) -
After losing the game, he believed it was just a streak of ill luck that caused their defeat.
-
She thought her ill luck would change after she found a lucky charm.
-
Despite trying hard, he experienced nothing but ill luck during his job search.
Synonyms
166
1.0
Unlucky events that happen by chance
75
3.7
A bad event that causes trouble
1
8.5
An unlucky event that causes problems
1
6.8
A time when someone has bad luck
A situation in which bad things keep happening to someone
A state of being unlucky and thought to be under a bad spell
Antonyms
How Lucky
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'bad fortune' is directly compositional: combining 'ill' (harmful/bad) with 'luck' yields 'bad luck' in a straightforward adjective+noun pattern. This is a common, cross-linguistic construction (e.g., Spanish 'mala suerte'), so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Ill luck comes from an older use of ill meaning 'bad', so the words put ill and luck together. Think of bad fortune sticking to someone like an illness, and you can see why ill luck means 'bad fortune' today.