ill-starred ills·tar·red fairly common adjective 1. marked by or promising bad fortune “their business venture was doomed from the start” “an ill-fated business venture” “an ill-starred romance” “the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons” W.H.Prescott Synonymsdoomedill-fatedill-omenedunlucky Similarunfortunate WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved.