hapless

Definition

unfortunate.

Etymology

From about 1400, from hap (“luck”) + -less.

Example Sentences

• "Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts."
• "Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels."
• "My dear friend, are you to become that hapless kind of outcast, a champion of lost causes?"

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