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 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. 2018

Related Words for miserably

badly, inadequately, deplorably, imperfectly, wretchedly

Examples from the Web for miserably

Contemporary Examples of miserably

So, miserably, he resorted to the autocue, and even this he turned into a disaster.
Justin Bieber's Abs Cannot Save Him
Tim Teeman
September 10, 2014
And, crucially, what next for these so-called lost women, for the lost girls who have been failed so miserably?
The Psychology of Sex Slave Rings
Charlotte Lytton
August 31, 2014
I had expected Alaska to be miserably cold, with howling winds and fierce storms.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed
Terry Greene Sterling
April 1, 2014
She knew she had made the right marriage when she lost the election, miserably.
New Feminists: Young, Multicultural, Strategic, and Looking Out for Each Other
Gail Sheehy
February 26, 2013
But Bennett, a religious IDF commander and self-made multimillionaire, failed us miserably on two leadership issues.
Voting For Yair Lapid, Israel’s Maimonides
Rabbi Daniel Landes
February 4, 2013

Historical Examples of miserably

Rose wrote that she was miserably unhappy with her step-mother.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
And so the week went by miserably, and I did not tell my love.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
Two experiments which he had previously made had failed most miserably.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
I am so feeble, so miserably weak and feeble, and I want to be strong.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon
"Let me see," said I—and we mounted a miserably dim staircase.
Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848
Various

British Dictionary definitions for miserably

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 miserably

adv.

c.1400; see miserable + -ly (2).

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.