as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
the hapless motorist had barely paid his bill and driven away from the body shop when a truck sideswiped his car
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Recent Examples of hapless
Snarky memes started pouring onto the messaging app Telegram, ridiculing Vladimir Putin and his hapless air defense system.
—
Trudy Rubin, Twin Cities, 8 June 2025
The hapless president’s parachute gets stuck in a tree and the savvy prime minister gets him down.
—Caryn James, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025
The Balloon Boy hoax would seem to have all the right elements for a revisitation: a hapless, alleged victim (6-year-old Falcon Heene), sky-high danger (the balloon reached about 7,000 feet), daringly duplicitous parents (Richard and Mayumi Heene), and a national profile that gripped audiences.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 23 June 2025
Bud Black – Fired earlier this year after his hapless Colorado Rockies couldn’t buy a win, this former pitcher still commands respect from both teammates and rivals.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Trudy Rubin, Twin Cities, 8 June 2025
The hapless president’s parachute gets stuck in a tree and the savvy prime minister gets him down.
—Caryn James, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025
The Balloon Boy hoax would seem to have all the right elements for a revisitation: a hapless, alleged victim (6-year-old Falcon Heene), sky-high danger (the balloon reached about 7,000 feet), daringly duplicitous parents (Richard and Mayumi Heene), and a national profile that gripped audiences.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 23 June 2025
Bud Black – Fired earlier this year after his hapless Colorado Rockies couldn’t buy a win, this former pitcher still commands respect from both teammates and rivals.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hapless
Adjective
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Instead, like so many unfortunate accidents since cell phones were invented, this was caused by a distracted driver.—
Anne Marie D. Lee,
CBS News,
14 July 2025
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Fortunately for him, that gaffe will be a little easier to live down than Teal and Weinberg’s unfortunate comments.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
12 July 2025
Adjective
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That's become a new line of attack for the Trump administration, which is already unhappy with the Fed for not moving more aggressively to lower interest rates.—
Scott Horsley,
NPR,
14 July 2025
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Speculation is that Ferrari is unhappy with Vasseur's performance, although these rumors have been shut down by Vasseur, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc.—
Saajan Jogia,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hapless. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.
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