hapless

adjective

hap·​less ˈha-pləs How to pronounce hapless (audio)
: having no luck : unfortunate
tale of a hapless sailor
hapless beings caught in the grip of forces we can do little aboutW. 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 The gay men were breezy, bossy, confident; the straight men were generally hapless and abashed. Mark Harris Rf. Alvarez, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024 Marquette for its part took care of business against hapless DePaul on Wednesday and enters this rematch with the Pirates on a three-game winning streak. USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2024 Photo: Shutterstock As a foul-mouthed folk singer who takes her hapless ex-lover (Oscar Isaac) to task, Mulligan has all the funniest lines in the Coen brothers’ poignant tribute to the Greenwich Village music scene of the early ’60s. Radhika Seth, Vogue, 3 Mar. 2024 In other words, deficit spending doesn’t boost economic growth as hapless Dems and all-too-many Republicans believe, rather deficits are a consequence of economic growth. John Tamny, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 The Hoosiers showed their strength, at one point building a 17-point first-half lead against a defensively hapless Iowa team. Zach Osterman, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Feb. 2024 Torpedo is a sociopathic Sicilian mobster who plies his trade in Depression-era New York, aided by his hapless sidekick Rascal. Ernesto Lechner, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024 The hapless Garvey simply drifts along, carried by Schiff’s draft and otherwise unable to mount any kind argument for himself. Jim Newton, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2024 Just after the hour mark, Rodrygo ran deep from near the halfway line to fire the fourth past a hapless Paulo Gazzaniga. Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

Middle English happelesse, from happe "luck, fortune, hap entry 1" + -lesse -less

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hapless was in the 14th century

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near hapless

Cite this Entry

“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hapless. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hapless

adjective
hap·​less ˈhap-ləs How to pronounce hapless (audio)
: having no luck : unfortunate
haplessly adverb
haplessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on hapless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!