miserable
Americanadjective
-
wretchedly unhappy, uneasy, or uncomfortable.
miserable victims of war.
- Synonyms:
- distressed, doleful, disconsolate, forlorn
- Antonyms:
- happy
-
wretchedly poor; needy.
- Synonyms:
- destitute
- Antonyms:
- wealthy
-
of wretched character or quality; contemptible.
a miserable villain.
- Synonyms:
- abject, low, mean, despicable
- Antonyms:
- good
-
attended with or causing misery.
a miserable existence.
-
manifesting misery.
-
worthy of pity; deplorable.
a miserable failure.
- Synonyms:
- lamentable, pitiable
adjective
-
unhappy or depressed; wretched
-
causing misery, discomfort, etc
a miserable life
-
contemptible
a miserable villain
-
sordid or squalid
miserable living conditions
-
mean; stingy
-
(pejorative intensifier)
you miserable wretch
Related Words
See wretched.
Other Word Forms
- miserableness noun
- miserably adverb
- quasi-miserable adjective
- quasi-miserably adverb
Etymology
Origin of miserable
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin miserābilis, equivalent to miserā(rī) “to pity” (derivative of miser “wretched”) + -bilis -ble
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The directors don’t exactly overlook the miserable parts of Turner’s life either, devoting the first half of “Tina” to her early career and raucous blaze she created as the dancing front of the traveling revue.
From Salon
There, they could spend eternity making each other miserable.
From Literature
They’d been together going on two decades when Semple lost herself, miserable in an overcast city without a tribe of her own.
As his career took him from startups to larger companies like Amazon, Seyboth had a realization: Work was rather miserable.
The ridiculous charges were clearly designed to make Mr. Powell’s life miserable in the hope that he would resign.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
