Definition of "fortunate"

if it sits still, with its breast towards them, till they have passed, they consider it as a fortunate sign, and everything is expected to go on well during the remainder of their journey

1854, Edward Stanley, A Familiar History of Birds : Their Nature, Habits and Instincts‎, page 144

How many lucky winners, Regnault lamented, boastfully ascribe their success to wise decisions while in reality their triumph was nothing more than the fortunate outcome of random events?

2011, George G. Szpiro, Pricing the Future: Finance, Physics, and the 300-year Journey to the Black-Scholes Equation‎

Weiner acknowledges that a stroke of good luck has helped steer her to a more fortunate path early on in life.

2018 July 11, “How Nina Weiner turns dreams into a reality”, in The Jerusalem Post