Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Bringing something good and unforeseen; auspicious.
- adj. Having unexpected good fortune; lucky. See Synonyms at happy.
- n. One who has good fortune, especially a wealthy person.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having good fortune; receiving good from uncertain or unexpected sources; lucky.
- Bringing or presaging good fortune; resulting favorably, as something uncertain; having a happy issue; auspicious; felicitous: as, a fortunate speculation; a fortunate accident.
- Synonyms Felicitous, Lucky, etc. (See happy.) Fortunate, Successful, Prosperous, favored. Fortunate implies the attainment of success more by the operation of favorable circumstances, or through accident, than by direct effort; successful denotes that effective effort has been made; prosperous has nearly the same meaning as successful, but does not at all emphasize the effort made, and applies rather to a series of things than to a single event. We say a fortunate gambler, a successful merchant, a prosperous line of business.
- n. In astrology, a favorable planet. Nares. See extract under fortitude, 3.
- To make fortunate; prosper.
Wiktionary
- adj. Coming by good luck or favorable chance.
- adj. Bringing some good thing not foreseen as certain.
- adj. Presaging happiness.
- adj. Auspicious.
- adj. Receiving some unforeseen or unexpected good, or some good which was not dependent on one's own skill or efforts.
- adj. Lucky, favored by fortune.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Coming by good luck or favorable chance; bringing some good thing not foreseen as certain; presaging happiness; auspicious.
- adj. Receiving same unforeseen or unexpected good, or some good which was not dependent on one's own skill or efforts; favored with good forune; lucky.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. presaging good fortune
- adj. supremely favored
- adj. having unexpected good fortune
Etymologies
- Latin fortūnātus, from fortūna, chance; see fortune. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Most of those directed to him by the gentler sex, turned in favour of what they called a fortunate ending.”
“This was only his sick fancy, for on the third of September, which was the anniversary of the great battle of Worcester, and the day of the year which he called his fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth year of his age.”
“Revis grimaced when the word "fortunate" was used in reference to Pool.”
“I can't say the word 'fortunate' or 'lucky' or whatever enough," said Haas, who got into the playoff with a two-under-par 68.”
“I would think "fortunate" is a more appropriate word.”
“Whatever the claim, I think even the most modest one, that some of the people he has worked with in business have never compared themselves to the less fortunate is very likely false.”
Envy and Resentment, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“We are once again fortunate enough to have Amy Steinberg on hand to rock the house with a family friendly, unschooling loving and absolutely awe inspiring concert.”
“Many of us who favor government programs to help poor people with health care, food, housing, and education believe that helping the less fortunate is an obligation, not an option.”
Health Care and Moral Values, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“I was again fortunate to be able to afford her surgery.”
The Huffington Post: Hyleri Katzenberg: Shame on You Piggy Health Insurers!
“The insurance companies are going to raise my premium anyway, atleast knowing that someone else less fortunate is going to have access to more preventative health care would be better.”
Democrats point to 'Smoking Tweet' in GOP stalling health care
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘fortunate’.
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grade 3
ability, absorb, act, tive, actual, adopt, advantage, ambition, ancient, arrange, arctic, attitude and 125 more...
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Ayumi G3
Ability, absorb, accuse, act, active, actual, adopt, advantage, advice, ambition, ancient, approach and 128 more...
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WF - daffynitions
A daffynition (derived from daffy and definition) is a pun format involving the reinterpretation of an existing word, on the basis that it sounds like another word (or group of words).
Sourc...apéritif, avoidable, buccaneer, dandelion, decadent, devastation, dilate, fortunate, impolite, indistinct, information, innuendoes and 10 more...
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See extract
Being a list of words which have the phrase "see extract" in their definitions. You might also find a few which have "see extract under" or "see the extract."
glove-sheep, clang, bookmaker, lackadaisical, apprehend, interfluvial, fortunate, intersect, cannelon, adoration, canter, headrace and 10 more...
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Tuna
tuna, unfortunate, bluefin tuna, albacore, tunny, Fortuna, fortuna, tuna salad, yellowfin tuna, ahi, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna and 51 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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feeling words
twitterpated, loquacious, ambiguous, pensive, sluggish, anxious, adventurous, curious, abandoned, absent-minded, abrasive, abused and 653 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o..., abject,utterly ho... and 2228 more...
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., dispensing of all..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o... and 2229 more...
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Speaking in Tongues - an REM list
Words heard in various REM songs that I enjoy and that I think are indicative of the band. Not too literally, of course.
pilgrimage, pageant, suspicion, penitence, gentlemen, chronic, stigma, deadlier, transit, fortunate, momentum, misconstrued and 162 more...
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flyrobynfly's Words
timer, word, curator, limited, what, love, torture, speed, compassion, terror, romance, seed and 55 more...
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SAT
abandon,extreme e..., dispensing of all..., abash,to humiliate, abate,to lessen, abbreviate,to sho..., abridge, abdicate,to forma..., aberration,depart..., abnormality, abet,to encourage, abhor,to hate, abide,to follow o... and 2229 more...
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SERENDIPITY Accidental Discoveries in...
catalyst, vinyl, sythesis, straightforward, sincere, purify, pseudo, inhibitor, exasperate, endeavor, conception, conceive and 19 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for fortunate.
gulyasrobi Daffynition: Consumption of an expensive meal. (fortune-ate) Jun 15, 2012