pech

Meaning

1. (masculine, no-diminutive, uncountable) bad luck; misfortune
2. (masculine, no-diminutive, uncountable) breakdown, e.g. of a car

Concepts

bad luck

misfortune

mischance

mishap

accident

brakedown

disaster

ill luck

misadventure

misery

good luck

unluckiness

ill-luck

casus

cataclysm

malfortune

breakdown

misfortunes

adversity

mishaps

natural resin

plague

catastrophe

tough luck

failure

fatalities

Synonyms

ongeluk

panne

ongeval

tegenslag

motorpech

tegenspoed

bijdraaien

ecologische ramp

accident

ongelukkig voorval

averij

catastrofe

mislukking

probleem

vergissing

malheur

Translations

azar

Pech

malchance

mala suerte

Unglück

mala sort

má sorte

panne

sfortuna

Panne

Missgeschick

adversa

malasorte

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɛx/

Etymology

Cognate with English: pitch

Cognate with Dutch: panne

In summary

From German Pech (“bad luck; pitch, tar”), from Old High German peh, from Latin pīx. Doublet of inherited pek (“pitch”). Also cognate with English pitch.
The sense “breakdown” is a Dutch innovation. It is probably modelled on the word ongeluk, which means both “bad luck, misfortune” and “accident”. Since pech typically denotes a lesser kind of bad luck, it came to be used for a lesser kind of traffic accident too. German uses Panne instead; compare Dutch panne.

Sentences

Dat ongeval was brute pech .

That accident was brutal bad luck.