Ill-starred is a word that is used to describe something or someone who seems to be constantly beset by bad luck or misfortune. Synonyms for ill-starred could include unlucky, unfortunate, cursed, jinxed, doomed, or hapless. Each of these words conveys a similar sense of negative fate or circumstance, highlighting a sense of inevitability in the problems that befall the affected party. Words like doomed and cursed may connote a sense of predestination or supernatural interference, while hapless and unlucky might suggest a more abstract or random series of unfortunate events. Whatever the term used, ill-starred implies a sense of life working against someone.