fortunate

If you are lucky, you are fortunate. You can be fortunate to have avoided something terrible and you can be fortunate to have acquired, won, or been bestowed with something better than those around you, like wealth and good looks.

The adjective fortunate comes from the Latin word fortunatus, meaning “prospered,” “prosperous,” “lucky,” or “happy.” Fortunate is related to the word fortune and they have similar meanings, in the sense that those fortunate enough to have a fortune most likely have gobs of money and are sometimes called “the fortunate.” When it comes to predicting the future, you could get bad news from a fortune teller about what’s in store for you, but if you’re fortunate — she’ll say something good.