How to Use unfortunate in a Sentence

unfortunate

1 of 2 adjective
Definition of unfortunatenext
Synonyms for unfortunatenext
  • It's unfortunate that he couldn't be here for your birthday.
  • He has an unfortunate tendency to show up late.
  • She was unfortunate enough to have been chosen as an example.
  • The creation of Ere Ibeji occurs with the unfortunate death of a twin.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2023
  • In many ways, all of them unfortunate, it could be considered the song of the 2010s.
    — Peter Rubin, Longreads, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Smear the sauce in an unfortunate place, and the burger landslides.
    — Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas News, 18 Sep. 2023
  • The authors of the provocative study make an unfortunate but true point.
    — Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
  • That’s unfortunate because some of the best post-nuptial getaways in the world are served ice cold.
    — Jillian Dara, Robb Report, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Spoiler alert: Bell met an unfortunate end at the hands of his onetime friend and partner in the third season of the show.
    — Byleo Schwartz, Fortune Crypto, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Fuming at the red team’s raw steak, Gordon yelled, and threw an unfortunate chunk of the protein up into the air.
    — Kturnqui, oregonlive, 20 July 2023
  • And the unfortunate part in this transition right now, like always, go back to the -- go back to the Great Recession.
    — CBS News, 17 Sep. 2023
  • If anything, the majority of the world is sort of ruled out, which is a bit unfortunate.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Nothing as off-the-cuff or zany as men often get away with in their speeches, and that’s unfortunate.
    — Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Some unfortunate men had their brains swell and pop inside their skulls.
    — Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2023
  • Now, after six weeks of idol shenanigans and unfortunate medevacs, the merge is here.
    — Martin Holmes, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2023
  • And, in another unfortunate event, a teen gets picked up by officers for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    — oregonlive, 27 July 2023
  • The athleisure and the dogs are taking over, and that’s really unfortunate.
    — Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Mirren returned to Berlin in 2015 with the film Woman in Gold and had an unfortunate stumble on the red carpet at the movie’s world premiere.
    — Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Feb. 2023
  • Social media was quick to point out the unfortunate sign placement throughout the game.
    — Mark Heim | [email protected], al, 4 Sep. 2023
  • His habit costs him — and his unfortunate partners — thousands of points.
    — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Maybe Naomi was just the unfortunate patient who took 30 years to figure out how to help herself.
    — Katie Engelhart, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2024
  • There were some unfortunate circumstances that came up there that were out of my control.
    — Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Feb. 2023
  • All night in the stands, Kansas City played the unfortunate pleasure of the flailing amateur next to a brilliant boxer’s jab.
    — Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2023
  • The Cougars and Beavers are the deeply unfortunate poster schools for realignment at its most unforgiving.
    — Jon Wilner | , oregonlive, 6 Aug. 2023
  • The omission is unfortunate, as the watch comes with support for Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, which can be used to set a timer or reminder.
    — Chuong Nguyen, Ars Technica, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Supporters of the bystanders said the violence was unfortunate but those who rushed to Pickett's defense did the right thing.
    — Harold Maass, The Week, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Which brings us back to this unfortunate but necessary bailout.
    — Evan Waite, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2023
  • At one point, for example, the rear end of the Grinch’s faithful dog, Max, has an unfortunate meeting with Jeffrey Tambor’s tongue.
    — Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Many bosses have blamed the unfortunate job cuts on over-hiring following strong pandemic-era performance, which, naturally, hasn’t gone over well with their workers or boosted morale.
    — Jane Thier, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
  • Rumors began to go around that Patel’s film touched upon some sensitive areas regarding India’s caste system and the way that the mix of religion and nationalism had become an unfortunate part of the nation’s contemprary landscape.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 2024
Advertisement

unfortunate

2 of 2 noun
  • Mr. Caws was taken by her kindness, even to those poor unfortunates who dared to come to the store looking for popular music.
    — Matthew Schneier, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2016
  • These unfortunates spent hours each day chewing tough roots, choking down leaves and stems, munching on tiny berries and gorging on rare windfalls of meat, bone marrow and worms.
    — Nathan H. Lents, WSJ, 13 Apr. 2018
  • As the threads of society break down, the poor unfortunates who survived the initial barrage don't so much live as merely exist in the post-apocalyptic ruins.
    — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2018
  • Humor is generally the province of trolls; think of the motley assemblage of unfortunates in the slovenly writers’ room on 30 Rock, and that gives you an accurate picture of the setting in which most good jokes and satire are created in America.
    — David Kamp, vanityfair.com, 7 Sep. 2017
  • But before that, Wilkerson would spend that year haranguing unfortunates in the Hollywood community who would go on to become targets of the blacklist, often losing their careers.
    — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 28 July 2017
  • But before that, Wilkerson would spend that year haranguing unfortunates in the Hollywood community who would go on to become targets of the blacklist, often losing their careers.
    — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 28 July 2017
  • Worse yet, the percentage of such unfortunates who are unrepresented by counsel has skyrocketed in recent decades.
    — Jed S. Rakoff, Slate Magazine, 31 July 2017
  • Mr. Caws was taken by her kindness, even to those poor unfortunates who dared to come to the store looking for popular music.
    — Matthew Schneier, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2016
  • These unfortunates spent hours each day chewing tough roots, choking down leaves and stems, munching on tiny berries and gorging on rare windfalls of meat, bone marrow and worms.
    — Nathan H. Lents, WSJ, 13 Apr. 2018
  • As the threads of society break down, the poor unfortunates who survived the initial barrage don't so much live as merely exist in the post-apocalyptic ruins.
    — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2018
  • Humor is generally the province of trolls; think of the motley assemblage of unfortunates in the slovenly writers’ room on 30 Rock, and that gives you an accurate picture of the setting in which most good jokes and satire are created in America.
    — David Kamp, vanityfair.com, 7 Sep. 2017
  • But before that, Wilkerson would spend that year haranguing unfortunates in the Hollywood community who would go on to become targets of the blacklist, often losing their careers.
    — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 28 July 2017
  • But before that, Wilkerson would spend that year haranguing unfortunates in the Hollywood community who would go on to become targets of the blacklist, often losing their careers.
    — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 28 July 2017
  • Worse yet, the percentage of such unfortunates who are unrepresented by counsel has skyrocketed in recent decades.
    — Jed S. Rakoff, Slate Magazine, 31 July 2017

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

Last Updated: