Word family noun fortune misfortune unfortunate adjective fortunate ≠ unfortunate adverb fortunately ≠ unfortunately
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmisfortunemis‧for‧tune /mɪsˈfɔːtʃən $ -ɔːr-/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] UNLUCKYvery bad luck, or something that happens to you as a result of bad luck It seems the banks always profit from farmers’ misfortunes.have the misfortune to do/of doing something The French soldiers had the misfortune to be caught in the crossfire.COLLOCATIONSverbssuffer misfortuneYou are not the only person to have suffered misfortune in your life.be dogged by misfortune (=have a lot of bad luck over a period of time)The project seemed dogged by misfortune.adjectivesa great misfortuneEverything they owned was lost in the fire, which was a great misfortune.a terrible misfortuneAt that time, being thin was considered a terrible misfortune for women.phraseshave the misfortune to do something/of doing somethingLast year, he had the misfortune to be involved in a car crash.have ever had the misfortune to do/of doing (=used for emphasizing how bad something is)He was the most arrogant man I'd ever had the misfortune of meeting.Examples from the Corpus
misfortune• The casualties were far fewer, but the train did not suffer the extraordinary misfortune of striking a bridge.• This at first seemed a great misfortune, for I knew a one-legged man could not do very well as a woodchopper.• Her misfortunes worsened this year, when her company eliminated her position and she lost her job.• Those for Diem were red, which signified good luck, and those for Bao Dai green, the color of misfortune.• These people are taking advantage of our misfortunes.• It was undertaken generally by people who had experienced personal misfortune.• It was impossible not to feel sympathy for the family's misfortune.• Amelia had the misfortune to arrive during the darkest period in Atchison history.• If you do have the misfortune to have a burst pipe, the most important thing is not to panic.• So, too, do those people in towns who have the misfortune to live near the wrong warehouse.• Timante examines the book which relates the misfortunes of his wife, whose whereabouts he did not know. 