idiom · informal
be down on one's luck
UK/bi daʊn ɒn wʌnz lʌk/US/bi daʊn ɑn wʌnz lʌk/be DOWN on one's LUCK
to be unfortunate or experiencing a period of bad luck
Examples
“He's been down on his luck since his business failed.”
“After a string of bad interviews, she was really down on her luck.”
“When you're down on your luck, even small problems feel overwhelming.”
Band 8 sentence
“After a series of unfortunate events, he was down on his luck for almost a year before things improved.”
Collocations
- be down on one's luck after
- seem down on one's luck
Word family
Common mistakes
be down for luck→be down on one's luck
be down of luck→be down on one's luck
Say it for a higher band
5unlucky→6have bad luck→7+be down on one's luck
Synonyms
unlucky
be having a rough patch
Easily confused
unlucky
“He was unlucky not to get the scholarship despite excellent grades.”
fall on hard times
“After his business failed, he fell on hard times and had to sell his house.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Hardship
Learn it with its set