1.
a sad or tragic fate; bad luck that seems to follow a person through life
A literary, dramatic word for unfortunate destiny — the kind of misfortune that seems woven into a person's life rather than the result of a single unlucky event. Often applied to historical figures, tragic heroes, and the protagonists of fiction and biographies.
悲運に見舞われる。
To be struck by misfortune.
彼は悲運の武将として知られている。
He is known as a tragic military commander.
彼女は幼少期から悲運が続き、苦労の多い人生を送った。
Misfortune pursued her from childhood, and she led a life full of hardship.
歴史の教科書には、能力はありながらも時代の流れに翻弄され、悲運の最期を迎えた人物が何人も登場する。
History textbooks feature many figures who, despite their abilities, were swept along by the currents of their time and met tragic ends.
Composed of 悲 (sad; sorrowful) + 運 (fortune; fate). The combination evokes the sense of a destiny shadowed by sorrow — a stronger and more literary word than everyday terms for "bad luck."
CHARACTERISTIC PATTERN — "悲運の X":
The attributive form 悲運の + noun is extremely common and highly formulaic:
- 悲運の武将: a tragic military commander
- 悲運の英雄: a tragic hero
- 悲運の王: a tragic king
- 悲運の天才: a tragic genius
- 悲運の最期: a tragic end
- 悲運の生涯: a tragic life
These appear often in biographies, historical dramas, and titles of novels and films.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 悲運に見舞われる: to be struck by misfortune
- 悲運に泣く: to lament a tragic fate
- 悲運を嘆く: to bewail one's misfortune
- 悲運に襲われる: to be attacked by / hit with misfortune
- 悲運を受け入れる: to accept one's tragic fate
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 不運: bad luck — more everyday; used for specific unlucky events ("I had bad luck today").
- 薄命: a short, unfortunate life — classical and literary; often used of beautiful women who die young (e.g., 美人薄命).
- 悲劇: tragedy — the event or work itself, not the fate of a person.
- 運命: fate; destiny — neutral in valence; can be good or bad.
- 宿命: predestined fate — emphasizes inevitability, often tragic but not always.
REGISTER:
Literary and written. 悲運 belongs to the vocabulary of essays, historical writing, and dramatic commentary. In casual speech, a speaker describing a particular unlucky event would simply say 運が悪い or 不運だ.