student asking question

What's "down-on-your-luck" mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

The phrase "down on your luck" means experiencing a bad situation or having almost no money. Here, it's used as an adjective, which is why it's completely hyphenated! Ex: I don't enjoy watching these down-on-your-luck TV shows. I prefer happy, light-hearted shows. Ex: She's been down on her luck recently. Ex: Charlie has been down on his luck for a couple of years now. He still hasn't found a stable job.

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