Vocabulary

mis·er·a·ble

mis·er·a·ble

\ˈmi-zər-bəl, ˈmiz-rə-, ˈmi-zə-rə-\

adjective

: very unhappy: very sick or unwell: very severe or unpleasant

Full Definition

1 : being in a pitiable state of distress orunhappiness (as from want or shame) <miserable refugees>2 a : wretchedly inadequate or meager <amiserable hovel>
b : causing extreme discomfort or unhappiness<a miserable situation>3 : being likely to discredit or shame <hismiserable neglect of his wife>miserable nounmis·er·a·ble·ness nounmis·er·a·bly \-blē\ adverb

Examples

a miserable jail cell in which the politicalprisoner was left to rotthe awful news made us miserablea miserable meal that I wouldn't feed to a dog

Origin: Middle English, from Middle French,from Latin miserabilis wretched, pitiable, frommiserari to pity, from miser.

First use: 15th century

Synonyms: black, bleak, cheerless, chill,Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark,darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate,dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich[chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal),forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray (alsogrey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, gloomy,morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine,sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre),sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched

Antonyms: bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery,comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay,heartwarming, sunshiny