a hostage to fortune

idiom

British : something (such as a promise or an action) that someone has made or done that may cause problems in the future

US : a person whose future success or failure is controlled by luck or fortune

Examples of a hostage to fortune in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But as rival luxury makers started to launch their super-utes, Flewitt's promise started to look more like a hostage to fortune, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and McLaren’s global sales collapsed. —

Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 28 Oct. 2021 But its title offers up quite a hostage to fortune. —

The Economist, 26 Sep. 2020 Outbreaks in the Sunbelt have been on the wane, so perhaps the virus will loosen its grip in the fall, but Trump is a hostage to fortune here, and even more so given the lack of pushback against the Democratic assault and the lack of interest in reassuring a public still on edge about the disease. —

Nr Editors, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'a hostage to fortune.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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“A hostage to fortune.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a%20hostage%20to%20fortune. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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