Word family noun fortune misfortune unfortunate adjective fortunate ≠ unfortunate adverb fortunately ≠ unfortunately
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfortunefor‧tune /ˈfɔːtʃən $ ˈfɔːr-/ ●●○ S3 W3 noun 1 money [countable]MONEY a very large amount of money He made a fortune selling property in Spain. My first painting sold for £25, a small fortune then for an art student. He died in poverty in 1947, but his art is worth a fortune. The carpet must have cost a fortune. It is quite easy to decorate your house without spending a fortune. Her personal fortune was estimated at £37 million.2 chance [uncountable]CHANCE/BY CHANCE chance or luck, and the effect that it has on your life I had the good fortune to work with a brilliant head of department. Sickness or ill fortune could reduce you to a needy situation. I felt it was useless to struggle against fortune.3 what happens to you [countable usually plural]HAPPEN the good or bad things that happen in life a downturn in the company’s fortunes This defeat marked a change in the team’s fortunes. The geographical position of the frontier fluctuated with the fortunes of war (=the things that can happen during a war).► see thesaurus at future4 → tell somebody’s fortune → soldier of fortune, → fame and fortune at fame, → a hostage to fortune at hostage(3), → seek your fortune at seek(4)COLLOCATIONSverbsmake a fortune (also amass a fortune formal) (=gain a lot of money)His family amassed a fortune during that period.make your fortune (=become rich)She made her fortune in the cosmetics industry.earn a fortuneHe hopes to earn a fortune from his latest invention.lose a fortune (=lose a lot of money)He lost a fortune in an unwise business deal.cost a fortune (=be very expensive)It’ll cost a fortune if we go by taxi.spend a fortuneYou don’t have to spend a fortune giving your family healthy meals.pay a fortune (=pay a lot of money)We had to pay a fortune in rent.inherit a fortune (=gain a lot of money after someone dies)He inherited a fortune of a million pounds from his uncle.leave somebody a fortune (=arrange for someone to receive a lot of money after you die)He left his wife a modest fortune.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + fortunea huge/vast/immense fortuneTimothy was the heir to a vast fortune.a large/substantial/considerable fortuneHis father, an oil magnate, amassed a large fortune.a small fortune (=a very large amount of money)He made a small fortune in the London property boom.a personal/private fortuneShe is one of the richest women in Britain, with an estimated personal fortune of £90 million.a £20 million/$40 million etc fortuneShe is believed to have a £25 million fortune.phrasesbe worth a fortune informal:The building itself is worth a fortune. Examples from the Corpus
fortune• To a four-year-old, $10 seems like a fortune.• In 1986, Harriman died, leaving her a substantial part of a fortune estimated at $ 100 million.• He lost much of his $1.4 billion fortune in the stock market crash.• For one thing, the economic fortunes of companies change.• He lived most of his life on Manhattan Island, and built his first fortune on the fur trade.• The extraordinary piece of good fortune that I had been given was the opportunity to fight it my way.• During the nineteenth century to be noticed was good fortune, while to be praised was a professional advantage.• Unfortunately, he turned out to be a waster and dissipated his fortune before dying young.• Then, a year later, his fortunes changed.• The drama continued throughout the evening as the contest got under way, with fortunes changing with every throw of the darts.made a fortune• I could have got odds of ten to one and made a fortune.• The mortgage department had made a fortune in 1984, while the firm as a whole had not done well.• Better yet, she had made a fortune at it.• The guy who invented Post-It notes must have made a fortune.• James was said to have made a fortune after the divorce from Ursula, his first wife.• He made a fortune from them, which he later bequeathed to the school that was his life.• Williams's father started out poor, made a fortune the hard way, and was contemptuous of his spoon-fed children.• The owner of this global network is Sumner Redstone, a Boston billionaire who made a fortune in movie theatres.• The man who made a fortune with his screeching voice, his rubber face, his repertory of long-legged misfits?had the good fortune to• But he also had the good fortune to take over National just as the industry began to experience an unprecedented four-year boom.• Last week she had the good fortune to have as guest the great art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich.the fortunes of war• Such are the fortunes of war.• Was it fixed only by the fortunes of war?• The geographical position of the frontier fluctuated with the fortunes of war.From Longman Business Dictionaryfortunefor‧tune /ˈfɔːtʃənˈfɔːr-/ noun [countable]1a very large amount of moneyWorking on the Stock Exchange, he made a fortune in just a few years.It would cost a fortune to treat all the waste.Producers pay stars as much as $5,000 per film, a small fortune in Pakistan.2fortunes [plural] how successful or unsuccessful a person, business, or industry is at a particular timeThe company suffered a sudden decline in its fortunes.Over the last couple of years we have seen a change in the fortunes of the Japanese car industry.Origin fortune (1200-1300) French Latin fortuna 