adj
Meaning 1
Especially of a person, unfortunate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
hapless
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈhæplɪs/
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US: /ˈhæpləs/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with (US) -æpləs
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CMU ARPABET: HH AE1 P L AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Very unlucky; ill-fated.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Very miserable, wretched, unhappy, measly, forlorn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Devoid of talent or skill.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
deserving or inciting pity- Galsworthy
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a hapless victim
- miserable victims of war
- the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic
- piteous appeals for help
- pitiable homeless children
- a pitiful fate
- Oh, you poor thing
- his poor distorted limbs
- a wretched life
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From about 1400, from hap (“luck”) + -less.
Across languages
Translations
50 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: fatkeq — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Amharic: አባርረዋል (ʾäbarräwal) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Arabic: قَلِيل الحَظّ (qalīl al-ḥaẓẓ) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Armenian: դժբախտ (džbaxt) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Armenian: անբախտ (anbaxt) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Armenian: ձախորդ (jaxord) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Azerbaijani: ürəyisınıq — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Basque: baliteke zoritxarreko — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Bulgarian: злополучен (zlopolučen) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Catalan: desventurat — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Cebuano: makalolooy — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Czech: nešťastný — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Czech: pronásledovaný smůlou — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Danish: ulykkelig — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Dutch: ongelukkig — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Dutch: onfortuinlijk — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Finnish: onneton — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Finnish: kovaonninen — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Finnish: epäonninen — very unlucky; ill-fated
- French: malheureux — very unlucky; ill-fated
- French: infortuné — very unlucky; ill-fated
- French: malchanceux — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Galician: cativo — very unlucky; ill-fated
- German: unglückselig — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Greek: άμοιρος (ámoiros) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Hungarian: balsorsú — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Hungarian: szerencsétlen — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Indonesian: malang — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Italian: sfortunato — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Latin: miseros — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Macedonian: не́среќен (nésreḱen) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Manx: neuspeeideilagh — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Māori: taitaiā — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Māori: wairuatoa — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Plautdietsch: onjlekjlich — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Portuguese: azarado — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Russian: невезу́чий (nevezúčij) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Russian: неуда́чливый (neudáčlivyj) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Serbo-Croatian: nesretan — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Spanish: infeliz — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Spanish: infortunado — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Spanish: desgraciado — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Swedish: olycklig — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Turkish: bahtsız — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Turkish: şanssız — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Turkish: uğursuz — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Ottoman Turkish: اوغورسز (uğursuz) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Ottoman Turkish: بختسز (bahtsız) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Ottoman Turkish: قوتسز (kutsuz) — very unlucky; ill-fated
- Yiddish: שלימאַזלדיק (shlimazldik) — very unlucky; ill-fated