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.

Wisconsin’s lurch to the right fit with the national trend: many Americans worried the U.S. was losing its edge, mired in economic woes and appearing hapless on the global stage. —

Nancy C. Unger / Made By History, TIME, 28 Oct. 2024 But signs indicate all along that his actions were egregiously hapless, not intentionally sinister. —

Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024 The other main cast member, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), a human familiar turned vampire turned human once more, isn’t in this scene, having once again left the house in the dangerously hapless hands of his immortal onetime employers. —

Devin Oktar Yalkin, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024 Better to be miles above the ground for longer, than stuck hapless in a stuffy cabin, unable to take off. —

Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hapless