misery
Americannoun
plural
miseries-
wretchedness of condition or circumstances.
- Synonyms:
- trial, tribulation, suffering
-
distress or suffering caused by need, privation, or poverty.
-
great mental or emotional distress; extreme unhappiness.
- Synonyms:
- desolation, torment, woe, anguish, grief
- Antonyms:
- happiness
-
a cause or source of distress.
-
Older Use.
-
a pain.
a misery in my left side.
-
Often miseries. a case or period of despondency or gloom.
-
noun
-
intense unhappiness, discomfort, or suffering; wretchedness
-
a cause of such unhappiness, discomfort, etc
-
squalid or poverty-stricken conditions
-
informal a person who is habitually depressed
he is such a misery
-
dialect a pain or ailment
Related Words
See sorrow.
Etymology
Origin of misery
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English miserie, from Latin miseria, equivalent to miser “wretched” + -ia -y 3
Explanation
Misery is a state of deep unhappiness or discomfort. It's not dropping your ice cream cone. It's having a hairy monster steal your ice cream cone, eat it in one bite, and then kidnap you and carry you off to his cave. Misery describes a miserable situation and a miserable feeling. Waiting four hours in the hot sun for a concert you don't want to see and can't afford? That's misery. The only way to survive is to bring a friend who hates the band as much as you––because misery loves company.
Vocabulary lists containing misery
Inside Out & Back Again
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"The People Could Fly," Vocabulary from the folk tale
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
There's also the very visible, and seemingly intractable, problem of homelessness, which inflicts misery on the thousands who suffer it and scars the streets of great cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
"The behaviour displayed by Dilon Price was totally unacceptable and his actions have led to untold misery for Harley's family and friends."
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
Manso said the PCC provides what recruits feel they can’t get elsewhere: escape from “the utter misery of urban life.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
High school athletes are tough and resilient, and that’s what he showed in his moment of misery.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
But she had long ago learned from Dr. Westminster, the Swanburne veterinarian, that some creatures become perfectly miserable when left alone too much, and this misery can easily turn to viciousness.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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.
