down on one's luck

down on (one's) luck

Experiencing a period of misfortune. Ryan is really down on his luck these days—he just lost his job, and then he got evicted from his apartment.

See also: down, luck, on

down on one's luck

Afflicted by misfortune, as in They've been down on their luck ever since they moved out West. [Colloquial; second half of 1800s]

See also: down, luck, on

down on one's luck

Short of cash or credit. A nineteenth-century description of financial embarrassment, usually of a temporary nature, this term implies, with down, that the person so described at one time had more resources. Thus Thackeray wrote, “The Chevalier was. . . . to use his own picturesque expression, ‘down on his luck’” (Pendennis, 1849).

See also: down, luck, on