different between hapless vs mishap

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hæpl?s/

Adjective

hapless (comparative more hapless, superlative most hapless)

1. Very unlucky; ill-fated.
   • 1914, John Galsworthy, The Mob, act 1:

     My dear friend, are you to become that hapless kind of outcast, a champion of lost causes?

   • 2008, Harriet Barovick, "Detroit The Lost Season," Time, 31 Dec.:

     The hapless squad, which was outscored 517-268 in 2008, became the first in league history to go 0-16.

2. Devoid of talent or skill.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:hapless.

Derived terms

• haplessly
• haplessness

Translations

Anagrams

• phasels, plashes, shpeals

English

Etymology

mis- +? hap

Pronunciation

• (noun) IPA^(key): /?m?shæp/
• (verb) IPA^(key): /m?s?hæp/

Noun

mishap (plural mishaps)

1. An accident, mistake, or problem.

   Since the mishap with the banana peel, he watches his step.

   • He had come straight up without mishap or swerving off his course, and his shut teeth unlocked.

2. Evil accident; ill luck; misfortune; mischance.
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act I, Scene 1,^[1]

     Rome’s readiest champions, repose you here in rest,

     Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!

Translations

Verb

mishap (third-person singular simple present mishaps, present participle mishapping, simple past and past participle mishapped)

1. (archaic) To happen through misfortune; to mishappen.

See Also

• Thesaurus:luck
• Thesaurus:lucky