What does unfortunate mean?
Word: Unfortunate
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Unfortunate means having bad things happen by chance; or sad and regrettable, something you wish had not happened.
Synonyms: unlucky, unhappy, regrettable
Antonyms: fortunate
How do you spell unfortunate?
Syllables: un - for - tu - nate
Tricky part: Fortune drops its e before ate; watch for unfortunite and unfortunet at the end.
Watch out for: unfortunite, unfortunet, unfortuneate
Memory tip: Climb a ladder of three steps: fortune, then fortunate, then unfortunate. Each step either swaps the ending or adds to the front.
Unfortunate in a sentence
Example 1: It was unfortunate that the rain began just as the match started.
Example 2: It was unfortunate that the shop had sold out of mango ice cream.
Example 3: Kenji had an unfortunate moment when he spilt juice all over his new shirt.
Fun Fact
Fortune comes from the Latin fortuna, meaning chance or luck, and people once pictured it as a wheel that could turn a person's luck up or down.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
unfortunate
a) careless
b) lucky
c) hopeless
d) gloomy
Show answer
b) lucky. Someone lucky has good things happen to them, which is the reverse of unfortunate.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
unfortunnate
a) n
b) t
c) u
d) a
Show answer
a) n. Fortune has one n after the u, and so do fortunate and unfortunate.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) comfortable
b) unfourtunate
c) disappointed
d) tremendous
Show answer
b) unfourtunate. The middle part is for, as in fortune, not four.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
rtfuaunnoet
a) fortune
b) unfortunately
c) fortunate
d) unfortunate
Show answer
d) unfortunate. Fortunate and fortune leave letters out, and unfortunately needs an l and a y as well.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Something unfortunate happened to Neel at school. What could it be?
a) he won the class quiz
b) he got a gold star
c) he made a new friend
d) he lost his new pencil box
Show answer
d) he lost his new pencil box
2. 'It is unfortunate that the library is closed today.' The speaker feels ____.
a) proud of it
b) happy about it
c) puzzled by it
d) sorry about it
Show answer
d) sorry about it
