for‧tune S3 W3 / fɔtʃ ə n $ fɔr- / 名词

1 money [可数名词] a very large amount of money :

He made a fortune selling property in Spain.

My first painting sold for £25, a small fortune then for an art student.

He died in poverty in 1947, but his art is worth a fortune .

The carpet must have cost a fortune .

It is quite easy to decorate your house without spending a fortune .

Her personal fortune was estimated at £37 million.

2 chance [不可数名词] chance or luck, and the effect that it has on your life :

I had the good fortune to work with a brilliant head of department.

Sickness or ill fortune could reduce you to a needy situation.

I felt it was useless to struggle against fortune.

3 what happens to you [可数名词，通常复数] the good or bad things that happen in life :

a downturn in the company’s fortunes

This defeat marked a change in the team’s fortunes.

The geographical position of the frontier fluctuated with the fortunes of war (= the things that can happen during a war ) .

4 tell sb’s fortune to tell someone what will happen to them in the future by looking at their hands, using cards etc

→ soldier of fortune , → fame and fortune at fame , → a hostage to fortune at hostage ( 3 ) , → seek your fortune at seek ( 4 )

COLLOCATIONS

动词

make a fortune ( also amass a fortune formal ) (= gain a lot of money ) His family amassed a fortune during that period.

make your fortune (= become rich ) She made her fortune in the cosmetics industry.

earn a fortune He hopes to earn a fortune from his latest invention.

lose a fortune (= lose a lot of money ) He lost a fortune in an unwise business deal.

cost a fortune (= be very expensive ) It’ll cost a fortune if we go by taxi.

spend a fortune You don’t have to spend a fortune giving your family healthy meals.

pay a fortune (= pay a lot of money ) We had to pay a fortune in rent.

inherit a fortune (= gain a lot of money after someone dies ) He inherited a fortune of a million pounds from his uncle.

leave somebody a fortune (= arrange for someone to receive a lot of money after you die ) He left his wife a modest fortune.

ADJECTIVES/NOUN + fortune

a huge/vast/immense fortune Timothy was the heir to a vast fortune.

a large/substantial/considerable fortune His father, an oil magnate, amassed a large fortune.

a small fortune (= a very large amount of money ) He made a small fortune in the London property boom.

a personal/private fortune She is one of the richest women in Britain, with an estimated personal fortune of £90 million.

a £20 million/$40 million etc fortune She is believed to have a £25 million fortune.

短语

be worth a fortune informal: The building itself is worth a fortune.