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
But even without three rotation players, the Heat made quick work of the hapless Wizards, opening a 34-23 lead after a quarter and a 72-52 lead at the half.
—
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2026
Almost all of the show’s original stars have returned, including Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Jane Kaczmarek as his mom Lois, and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm’s hapless dad Hal.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
Unlike that film, The Drama, which is distributed by A24, isn’t necessarily trying to lampoon a hapless character who deserves our ire.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
Running from 2005 through 2013 for a total of nine seasons, the sitcom just cracked 200 episodes, following the hapless and offbeat employees at a fictional paper company.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 29 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2026
Almost all of the show’s original stars have returned, including Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Jane Kaczmarek as his mom Lois, and Bryan Cranston as Malcolm’s hapless dad Hal.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 6 Apr. 2026
Unlike that film, The Drama, which is distributed by A24, isn’t necessarily trying to lampoon a hapless character who deserves our ire.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
Running from 2005 through 2013 for a total of nine seasons, the sitcom just cracked 200 episodes, following the hapless and offbeat employees at a fictional paper company.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 29 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hapless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hapless
Adjective
-
Even before the president set off this unfortunate round of gerrymandering, Democratic states such as New York and Illinois were already heavily gerrymandered.—
Colin Pascal,
Baltimore Sun,
25 Apr. 2026
-
He’s beaten by thugs with a crowbar for an unfortunate outburst, exploited by neighbors in the council estate and arrested, all because people don’t understand Tourette syndrome.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Alex Cora was clearly unhappy towards the end.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
-
There were thousands of unhappy Stagecoach festivalgoers on Saturday night, as the approximately 75,000-80,000 guests were forced to evacuate due to high winds.—
Emily Longeretta,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Vasyanovych plays Roman, a luckless director who’s out of work and trying to shoot his latest film in a country whose dwindling population is still traumatized by the war.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
After last year’s disastrous Eaton fire, Southern California Edison executives vowed to be transparent about what caused the inferno that killed at least 19 people and left thousands of families homeless in Altadena.—
Melody Petersen,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Apr. 2026
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Sturm then gave Swayman the mercy pull, which frankly could have happened after the disastrous first.—
Stephen Conroy,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hapless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hapless. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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