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.

The comedy starred Meryl Streep as demanding Runway editor Miranda Priestly, Emily Blunt as Priestly’s main assistant, and Anne Hathaway as the hapless second assistant who gets a Cinderella makeover courtesy of Nigel. —

Eric Andersson, People.com, 14 Jan. 2025 And the same offensive line that protected Dillon Gabriel so well in its first Ohio State game looked hapless the second time, allowing eight sacks. —

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025 But 47 has navigated those waters better than most, delivering some genuine interpersonal conflict and elevating a handful of satisfyingly devious characters including the initially hapless Andy Rueda and Keyser Söze-ian corporate lawyer Genevieve Mushaluk. —

Joe Reid, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024 Seattle Seahawks 26, New York Jets 21: This victory over the hapless Jets gave the Seahawks a third consecutive win and kept them in the lead in the NFC West. —

Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 2 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hapless