hapless

adjective

hap·less ˈha-pləs

Synonyms of hapless next

: having no luck : unfortunate

tale of a hapless sailor

hapless beings caught in the grip of forces we can do little about—

W. H. Whyte

haplessly adverb

haplessness noun

Did you know?

Hapless literally means what you'd expect it to mean: "without hap"—hap being another word for fortune or luck. Hap derives from the Old Norse word for "good luck," a word that is also the source of our happen and happy. English has several words to describe those lacking good fortune, including ill-starred, ill-fated, unlucky, and luckless, a word formed in parallel to hapless by adding the suffix -less. Ill-starred suggests bringing calamity or the threat of a terrible fate ("the ill-starred year the Great Depression began"). Ill-fated refers only to being doomed ("the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic"). Unlucky and luckless usually apply to a person or thing notably or chronically unfortunate ("an unlucky slots player," "some luckless investors swindled in the deal").

Examples of hapless in a Sentence

She plays the hapless heroine who is unlucky in love. the hapless motorist had barely paid his bill and driven away from the body shop when a truck sideswiped his car

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

And Heller, a confidently empathetic director who can make an observant frame feel like a hug, wisely avoids traps like demonizing the child (winningly played by twins Emmett and Arleigh Snowden) or setting up McNairy’s hapless dad simply to be a marital punchline. —

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024 Two of the movies feature both Adams and Julianne Moore, and what’s really depressing is that such a phenomenal pairing got wasted on hapless material. —

Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024 Whigham plays a hapless claims adjuster fresh out of prison after taking the fall for a crime boss. —

Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 5 Dec. 2024 The defense looked hapless all afternoon, missing tackles and leaving receivers wide-open as Arizona piled up 406 total yards. —

C.j. Doon, Baltimore Sun, 12 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hapless