Adjective

(en adjective)

Very unlucky; ill-fated.

* {{quote-book

, year=1818 , author= , title=Frankenstein , section= , passage=Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts.}}

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.}}

* 1914 , , 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.

Devoid of talent or skill.

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=April 26 , author=Tasha Robinson , title=Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits : , work=The Onion AV Club , url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-pirates-band-of-misfits,73064/ , page= , passage=Gideon Defoe scripted from his own series-launching comedic book The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists, about the adventures of a hapless group of pirates known only by names like The Pirate With The Scarf, The Pirate With Gout, and in the case of their leader, The Pirate Captain. }}

*

Adjective

(en adjective)

Unfavourable, adverse, or disadvantageous.

*{{quote-book

, year=2004 , author=Jan Riordan , title=Breastfeeding and Human Lactation , chapter=5 , isbn=0763745855 , page=149 , passage=No untoward effects were reported; however, this was not a blinded or controlled study.}}

*{{quote-book

, year=2007 , author=Steven C. Schachter et al. , title=Behavioral Aspects of Epilepsy: Principles and Practice , chapter=4 , isbn=1933864044 , page=282 , passage=However, these guidelines may not be applicable to all individuals with refractory epilepsy, in whom seizure control is not achieved without using polytherapy or resection surgery with their untoward side effects.}}

Unruly, troublesome.

Unseemly, improper.

*{{quote-book

, year=between 1812 and 1814 , author= , title= , chapter=1 , passage=She could hardly have made a more untoward choice.}}

*{{quote-book

, year=2005 , author=John Martin , title=Organizational Behaviour and Management , isbn=1861529481 , page=518 , passage=The managing director was very depressed at the news, but realized that trying to prove anything untoward had taken place would be very difficult.}}