luck

CEFRA1

/lʌk/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Success or failure caused by chance rather than effort.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A superstitious feeling that brings fortune or success.

Examples

  • Don't set your failure down to bad luck.

  • She attributes her success to hard work and a little luck.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.

  2. A favourable chance occurrence.

  3. The results of a random number generator.

More examples

In context

  • You're in luck. The plane is on time.

  • Gilbert had some bad luck yesterday — he got pick-pocketed and lost fifty dollars.

  • Sometimes it takes a bit of luck to get success.

Synonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

Most people believe winning the lottery is a matter of blank, not skill.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English luk, lukke, related to Old Frisian luk (“luck”), West Frisian gelok (“luck”), Saterland Frisian Gluk (“luck”), Dutch geluk (“luck, happiness”), Low German luk (“luck”), German Glück (“luck, good fortune, happiness”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lykke (“luck, happiness”), Norwegian Nynorsk lukke (“luck, happiness”), Swedish lycka (“luck, happiness”), Icelandic lukka (“happiness”). According to the OED, it may be related to lock. A loanword into English in the 15th century (probably as a gambling term) from Middle Dutch luc, a shortened form of gheluc (“good fortune”), whence Modern Dutch geluk. Middle Dutch luc, gheluc has parallels with Middle High German lücke, gelücke...