Mishap
An unlucky accident or minor misfortune; a small event that causes trouble but is usually not serious.
nounMishap
An unlucky accident or minor misfortune; a small event that causes trouble but is usually not serious.
nounImagine This
Imagine you’re hosting a small outdoor picnic and a gust of wind flips a tablecloth, napkins scatter, and a drink spills—all small, embarrassing troubles that everyone laughs about afterward. That moment is a mishap.
Sounds Like
MIS-hap
Looks Like
Looks like 'miss-hap' (miss + hap), hinting that luck has missed you and something goes wrong.
Remember This
Originates from hap meaning luck; mis- indicates wrong or bad luck. First used in English in the 16th century to describe ill fortune.
Other Forms
Connect With
accident, incident, misfortune, setback, glitch
Note
Used for small accidents or unfortunate events. Do not overstate by using 'mishap' for major disasters; for serious accidents use 'accident' or 'catastrophe'.
Study Deeper
- A minor mishap occurred when the projector stopped working and the slides wouldn’t load.
- She spilled coffee on her shirt, but it was just a small mishap and she kept the meeting on track.
From mis- (wrong) + hap (luck). Hap, meaning luck or fortune, comes from Old English/Old Norse roots; the word mishap originally signified ill luck.
Miss Hap: remember the word as 'Miss Hap'—a girl whose luck misses her, leading to a small mishap.
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nounA distinctive way of pronouncing words; the act of emphasizing a syllable or word (as a verb, to accent means to emphasize).
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Acronym
nounA word formed from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as a single word and used as a shorthand for the full name (for example, NASA or radar).