miserable

[miz-er-uh-buhl, miz-ruh-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR miserable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

wretchedly unhappy, uneasy, or uncomfortable: miserable victims of war.

wretchedly poor; needy.

of wretched character or quality; contemptible: a miserable villain.

attended with or causing misery: a miserable existence.

manifesting misery.

worthy of pity; deplorable: a miserable failure.

Origin of miserable

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin miserābilis, equivalent to miserā(rī) to pity (derivative of miser wretched) + -bilis -ble

Related formsmis·er·a·ble·ness, nounmis·er·a·bly, adverbqua·si-mis·er·a·ble, adjectivequa·si-mis·er·a·bly, adverb

Synonyms for miserable

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR miserable ON THESAURUS.COM

1. forlorn, disconsolate, doleful, distressed. See wretched. 2. destitute. 3. despicable, mean, low, abject. 6. pitiable, lamentable.

Antonyms for miserable

1. happy. 2. wealthy. 3. good.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for miserable

wretched, gloomy, tragic, pathetic, sad, poor, meager, bad, shameful, sorry, afflicted, ailing, brokenhearted, crestfallen, dejected, desolate, despairing, despondent, destroyed, disconsolate

Examples from the Web for miserable

Contemporary Examples of miserable

The young people in Girls are miserable, peevish, depressed, hate their bodies, themselves, their life, and each other.
Up to a Point: They Made Me Write About Lena Dunham
P. J. O’Rourke
December 13, 2014
Instead, she lives in miserable circumstances, only made more miserable by the attention her beauty earns.
The Young Girls Escaping the ISIS War
Chandra Kellison
September 16, 2014
Netflix speeds were crawling along making it miserable for customers to stream content.
Porn Fights For Your Right to Surf: Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube Lead Charge For Net Neutrality
Aurora Snow
September 13, 2014
Is it halal if the animal lives a miserable life while never seeing sunlight?
Inside The Growing Organic Halal Movement
Sharon Adarlo
September 7, 2014
Like most bus rides, and especially 22-hour bus rides, it was a miserable trip.
Spirit Tripping With Colombian Shamans
Chris Allbritton
August 24, 2014

Historical Examples of miserable

The country all the way, in fact, is most miserable and intolerable.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
Spinifex for the first fourteen miles, and miserable country.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
Before we reached the range we had most miserable spinifex sand-hills.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
But, perhaps, he may not be quite so miserable as he is represented.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
But where all things fade, how miserable to be the one that could not fade!
The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for miserable

miserable

adjective

unhappy or depressed; wretched

causing misery, discomfort, etca miserable life

contemptiblea miserable villain

sordid or squalidmiserable living conditions

Scot, Australian and NZ mean; stingy

(pejorative intensifier)you miserable wretch

Derived Formsmiserableness, nounmiserably, adverb

Word Origin for miserable

C16: from Old French, from Latin miserābilis worthy of pity, from miserārī to pity, from miser wretched

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for miserable

adj.

early 15c., "full of misery, causing wretchedness" (of conditions), from Old French miserable "prone to pity, merciful," and directly from Latin miserabilis "pitiable, miserable, deplorable, lamentable," from miserari "to pity, lament, deplore," from miser "wretched" (see miser). Of persons, "existing in a state of misery" it is attested from 1520s.