misfortune

Name: misfortune, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/

//mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“misfortune” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,678. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,678
frequency rank, English: 4,057
“M” headwords: 15
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bad luck.

Corpus desk

Index EN-misfortune · misfortune · English

misfortune · rank #17,678 · 15 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #17,678
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 15 variants
BOOK-MID 4,057
PHOTO-FINISH misdemeanor

Nearest frequency peer: misdemeanor (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Mikhail

82,326
mir

82,325
misdemeanor

82,324
misfortune

82,323
Mondays

82,322
mountainous

82,320

What this shows “misfortune” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for misfortune
Property	Value
Headword	misfortune
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#17,678
Misspellings tracked	15
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “misfortune”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).misfortunelands here:

#17,678

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “misdemeanor” (#17,677), “Mondays” (#17,679), “mir” (#17,676). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “misfortune” is #17,678. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around misfortune (IPA /mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,678 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for misfortune, with forms such as "imsfortune", "mifsortune", and "misffortune". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From mis- + fortune. The correct English form is misfortune, spelled M-I-S-F-O-R-T-U-N-E.

Definition

1
Bad luck.
2
An undesirable event such as an accident.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how misfortune appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

The worst tour I have ever had the misfortune to experience.
Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.

Etymology

From mis- + fortune.

This word in other languages

infortunio(Español)malchance(Français)Pech(Deutsch)azar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

imsfortune
mifsortune
misffortune
misforrtune
misfortnue
misforttune
misfortuen
misfortunne
misforutne
misfotrune
misfrotune
misofrtune
missfortune
mmisfortune
msifortune

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of misfortune - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "misfortune"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "misfortune"?

"misfortune" is spelled M-I-S-F-O-R-T-U-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/.

What does "misfortune" mean?

As a noun, "misfortune" means: Bad luck.

What are common misspellings of "misfortune"?

Common misspellings include "imsfortune", "mifsortune", "misffortune", "misforrtune", "misfortnue". The correct spelling is "misfortune".

How do you pronounce "misfortune"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "misfortune" is /mɪsˈfɔɹt͡ʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "misfortune"?

From mis- + fortune. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "misfortune", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

manageable#17,667 rhetorical#17,705 toothbrush#17,736 defamation#17,586

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

mountainous15 variants downright15 variants bipartisan15 variants caterpillar15 variants