Etymology From Middle English lukky, equivalent to luck + -y. Cognate with Scots lucky (“lucky”), West Frisian lokkich (“lucky, fortunate”), Dutch gelukkig (“lucky, fortunate, happy”). Compare also Danish lykkelig (“happy”), Swedish lycklig (“happy, lucky”), German glücklich (“happy”), Saterland Frisian glukkelk (“happy”).
1
Of people Favoured by luck; fortunate; having good success or good fortune.
a lucky adventurer
The downed pilot is very lucky to be alive.
3 more examples
I thought my nephew a fool ; I now know that he is a doosed sensible fellow, and the luckiest dog in Christendom — luckiest dog in Christendom, I declare.1872, Laurence William M. Lockhart, Fair to see, page 149:
They sad ’cause they in their bowl / But fish in the bowl is lucky / They in for a worser fate1989, “Under the Sea”, in Howard Ashman (lyrics), Alan Menken (music), The Little Mermaid:
The luckier and less disabled ones manned lifts or were posted at the doors of public buildings, a uniformed and bemedalled conciergerie who were more often than not unhelpful, making the most of whatever petty authority they were invested with.2011, Alan Bennett, “Baffled at a Bookcase”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.15:
2
Producing, or resulting in, good fortune
a lucky mistake
a lucky cast
2 more examples
a lucky hour
A local doctor had bought one canvas and but for that lucky chance he would have been out of pocket.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 17: