misfortune

misfortune, mischance, adversity, mishap are comparable when they denote bad luck or adverse fortune or an instance of this.

Misfortune is both the most common and the most general term; it is applicable equally to the incident or conjunction of events that is the cause of an unhappy change of fortune

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by misfortune he lost his job

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or the ensuing state of distress

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a crass and stupid person who had fallen through luck into flowing prosperity. His every good fortune spattered others with misfortune— Malamud

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and it may denote a particular unfortunate incident

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they could by cooperation brave misfortunes and supplement each other's efforts in bettering the lot of the common man— Middle East Jour.

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Mischance rarely applies to a state of distress but is otherwise very close to misfortune from which it differs chiefly in greater objectivity. While sometimes used to imply grave affliction or even death it is especially appropriate when the situation involves no more than slight inconvenience or minor annoyance

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I threw a stone and hit a duck in the yard by mischance— Yeats

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they proceeded on their journey without any mischance— Austen

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Adversity, on the other hand, denotes the state or the instance but not the cause; it is distinctly the strongest of these words and in its typical use implies a state of grave and persistent misfortune

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a wretched soul, bruised with adversity—Shak.

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what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thought—proof against all adversity— Ruskin

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In application to the instance adversity is normally used in the plural

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the many misfortunes and adversities Bolivia has suffered have brought this national spirit to a high pitch— Americas

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Mishap, (see also ACCIDENT)like mischance, commonly implies triviality

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directed the concert without any of the mishaps expected of a twenty-year-old's performance— Current Biog.

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Analogous words: *disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm: *accident, casualty: *trial, tribulation, cross, affliction, visitation

Antonyms: happiness: prosperity

Contrasted words: felicity, bliss, blessedness, beatitude (see HAPPINESS): comfort, ease (see REST): *victory, triumph