List of unlucky symbols

"Bad luck" redirects here. For other uses, see Bad luck (disambiguation).

This is a list of symbols and signs believed to be unlucky according to superstition:

• Using crutches or a wheelchair when not needed
• A black cat crossing one's path
• Certain numbers:
  • The number 4 (tetraphobia) in Chinese culture
  • The numbers 4 and 9 in Japanese culture
  • Also in Japanese culture, maternity wards numbered 43, as it can literally mean "still birth"
  • The number 17 in Italian culture
  • The number 13, known as triskaidekaphobia
• Friday the 13th
• Opening an umbrella indoors
• Failing to respond to a chain letter
• Viewing one's doppelgänger may be considered a harbinger of bad luck
• Walking under a ladder
• According to Eastern cultures, spitting in public, as the spit may land on invisible spirits, who in response to the disrespect, may place a curse on the spitter.
• Hanging a horseshoe with the ends pointing down, as it is believed that the luck will 'fall out'
• Breaking a mirror
• Placing chopsticks in a bowl of food sticking upward
• United States two-dollar bill
• Shoes on a table
• On the Isle of Man, the mention of the word "longtail" (referring to a rat)
• Three on a match (superstition)
• Giving a clock as a gift in Chinese culture, as in chinese, to give a clock has the same pronunciation as attending their funeral
• Saying the word "Macbeth" while inside a theatre
• A hanging picture falling from the wall
• Stepping on a grave
• Ravens
• Spilling salt
• Giving pocket knife as a gift
• Closing a pocket knife opened by someone else
• Ouija board
• Pointing at feces
• Navajo: pointing at a rainbow
• Navajo: throwing rocks into the wind
• Navajo: Coyote crossing your path heading north

See also

• List of lucky symbols
• Belief in luck
• Curse
• Theatrical superstitions
• Faux pas derived from Chinese pronunciation
• Sailors' superstitions#Bad luck