English → Latin
“unlucky” in Latin
īnfēlīxunhappy, unfortunate; unlucky; unfruitfulīnfortūnātusunfortunateīnfaustusunfavorable, unfortunate, unpropitious, luckless, ill-fated, inauspicious, unluckycalamitōsuscalamitous, disastrous, ruinous, destructivefūnestusdeadly, fatal; mournful, dismaladversusfacing, opposite; towards; against
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
unlucky
infelix (unfortunate, either as bringing or threatening misfortune; e.g., day, combat, result of an undertaking, rumor; also of him to whom fortune is unpropitious: δυστυχής]: infortunatus (not favored by fortune; of persons who, with regard to their circumstances or in other respects, are no favorites of fortune, or have bad luck: κακοδαίμων): miser (of persons who are suffering from any evil, so as to claim our compassion; miserable: then also of things, wretched): non prosper (not prosperous, not answering a man’s expectation or hopes; of things: e.g., progress, result, circumstances): infaustus (of an unpropitious appearance; e.g., day, omen, etc.); also, (The words are found in this connection and order.) infaustus et infelix: calamitosus (connected with great damage and loss; e.g., war, conflagration): funestus (causing mourning, bringing destruction; e.g., war, letter, omen, etc.): sinister (PROP., being to the left; hence of unfavorable auspices, especially of birds; also of omens; opposed to dexter, but only, in the latter sense, of the Greeks, since with the Romans the left was considered the lucky side in auspices and divinations: thus, “avis sinistra”, etc.): adversus (contrary to one’s wishes, adverse; e.g., battle, circumstance, result of an undertaking; opposed to secundus): malus (of bad quality; e.g., pay, times, omen; opposed to bonus). I am the most unlucky person, nemo me est miserior.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for unlucky?
- The usual Latin words for “unlucky” are īnfēlīx, īnfortūnātus, īnfaustus; also calamitōsus, fūnestus, adversus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.