Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ill-starred

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.67 in modern English

Syllables: il-l-s-tarred
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Doomed to a bad fate; hapless.

Example Sentences

""Do not name it!" answered he, passionately. "God forgive me! I cannot yet bear its name. But for its ill-starred birth, Henriette might now be living. What is there in that unconscious infant to replace its mother?""
"[…] it appears the possibility of the ill-starred Uxbridge-Rickmansworth rail link being built is now bound up with post-war planning. [it was never built]"

Inflected Forms

more ill-starred (comparative) most ill-starred (superlative)

Synonyms

ill-omened star-crossed augurous baleful bodeful boding dire disastrous divine fatal foreboding ill-boding

Questions

What does ill-starred mean?: Doomed to a bad fate; hapless.

How to pronounce ill-starred

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ill-starred”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “ill-starred” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.