Origin: Latin suffix -ate
Unfortunate has 6 different meanings across 2 categories:
a person who suffers misfortune
"The unfortunate man lost his job and home in just a few weeks."
An unlucky person; one who has fallen into bad circumstances.
"The unfortunate man wandered through the city without a home or any money to his name."
In plain English: There is no noun form of unfortunate; it is only an adjective used to describe something unlucky or regrettable.
"The unfortunate was rescued from the burning building before anyone else could help him."
Usage: Use this noun form only in literary or archaic contexts to describe an unfortunate individual, as modern English almost exclusively employs it as an adjective meaning regrettable. In everyday speech and writing, replace the phrase "an unfortunate" with specific descriptions like "a person who is unlucky."
not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune
"an unfortunate turn of events"
"an unfortunate decision"
"unfortunate investments"
"an unfortunate night for all concerned"
not auspicious; boding ill
"The broken mirror was an unfortunate omen that seemed to foreshadow the team's upcoming defeat."
not favored by fortune
"It was an unfortunate day when the storm ruined our picnic plans."
The word unfortunate combines the prefix un- with fortunate to mean lacking good fortune. It entered English as a doublet of infortunate, sharing the same Latin roots but developing independently over time.