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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-167/
- Published: 2025-01-14T17:15:10.000Z
- Updated: 2025-01-14T17:15:09.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

hapless (adjective): 

: having no luck : unfortunate

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hapless?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : 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").

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