as in unfortunate
having, prone to, or marked by bad luck
the ill-fated trip ended in disaster for all
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Recent Examples of ill-fated
The move to LoHi ended up being ill-fated, according to Nuñez, because the restaurant lost its identity.
—
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 28 May 2025
His previous two films were the ill-fated (but far better than remembered) Brainstorm, a psychedelic science fiction thriller forever marred due to its co-lead Natalie Wood's tragic death during production, and a dark masterpiece, David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone.
—EW.com, 24 May 2025
Despite the trailblazing accomplishment, Walters’ co-anchor role was ill-fated, and the evening news was overhauled in 1978 into World News Tonight.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 12 May 2025
But efforts from Chinese firms to gain a physical foothold in Greenland or access its raw materials have been ill-fated.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
And each event remains converged at a crossroads — albeit not the ultimately all-too-hasty, vague and ill-fated East Crossroads stadium district proposal Jackson County voters rebuked a year ago this month.
—Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 12 Apr. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
Recent offseason activity saw the narrative be about who was leaving the Boston Red Sox – Mookie Betts in the ill-fated traded to the Dodgers after 2019, Xander Bogaerts signing with the Padres after 2021 and the trade of Chris Sale to the Braves nearly a year ago.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 28 May 2025
His previous two films were the ill-fated (but far better than remembered) Brainstorm, a psychedelic science fiction thriller forever marred due to its co-lead Natalie Wood's tragic death during production, and a dark masterpiece, David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone.
—EW.com, 24 May 2025
Despite the trailblazing accomplishment, Walters’ co-anchor role was ill-fated, and the evening news was overhauled in 1978 into World News Tonight.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 12 May 2025
But efforts from Chinese firms to gain a physical foothold in Greenland or access its raw materials have been ill-fated.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
And each event remains converged at a crossroads — albeit not the ultimately all-too-hasty, vague and ill-fated East Crossroads stadium district proposal Jackson County voters rebuked a year ago this month.
—Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 12 Apr. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
This quickly proves to be ill-fated when Red Feather and his men kill the scouts in a surprise attack, leaving only one survivor who later points them in Red Feather’s direction.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
Recent offseason activity saw the narrative be about who was leaving the Boston Red Sox – Mookie Betts in the ill-fated traded to the Dodgers after 2019, Xander Bogaerts signing with the Padres after 2021 and the trade of Chris Sale to the Braves nearly a year ago.
—Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill-fated
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
Adjective
-
That does not mean people place blind faith in AI or use it to displace human-to-human interactions; that would be disastrous.—
Yasmin Green,
Foreign Affairs,
7 July 2025
-
It was largely forgotten about until closer to release (December 2020 was launch, and its disastrous release was all anyone could talk about).—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ill-fated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill-fated. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.
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