Definition of 'miserable'
1. adjective
If you are miserable, you are very unhappy.
2. adjective
If you describe a place or situation as miserable, you mean that it makes you feel unhappy or depressed.
3. adjective
If you describe the weather as miserable, you mean that it makes you feel depressed, because it is raining or dull.
4. adjective [ADJ n]
5. adjective
You can describe a quantity or quality as miserable when you think that it is much smaller or worse than it ought to be.
[emphasis]
6. adjective [ADJ n]
A miserable failure is a very great one.
[emphasis]
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
miserable in American English
adjective
1.
in a condition of misery; wretched, unhappy, suffering, etc.
2.
causing misery, discomfort, or suffering
miserable weather
4.
5.
noun
6. Obsolete
a miserable person
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
miserableness (ˈmiserableness)
noun
miserably (ˈmiserably)
adverb
Word origin
Fr misérable < L miserabilis, pitiable < miserari, to pity < miser, wretched
Word Frequency
miserable in American English
(ˈmɪzərəbəl, ˈmɪzrə-)
adjective
SYNONYMS 1. forlorn, disconsolate, doleful, distressed. See wretched. 2. destitute. 3. despicable, mean, low, abject. 6. pitiable, lamentable.ANTONYMS 1. happy. 2. wealthy. 3. good.5.
manifesting misery
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
miserableness noun
miserably
adverb
Word origin
[1375–1425; late ME ‹ L miserābilis, equiv. to miserā(rī) to pity (deriv. of miser wretched) + -bilis -ble]Word Frequency
miserable in British English
adjective
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
miserableness (ˈmiserableness) noun
miserably (ˈmiserably)
adverb
Word origin
C16: from Old French, from Latin miserābilis worthy of pity, from miserārī to pity, from miser wretched
Examples of 'miserable' in a sentence
miserable
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In other languages
miserable
British English: miserable
/ˈmɪzərəbl/ ADJECTIVE
If you are miserable, you are very unhappy.
I had a job which made me really miserable.
- American English: miserable /ˈmɪzərəbəl/
- Arabic: تَعِيسٌ
- Brazilian Portuguese: miserável
- Chinese: 痛苦的
- Croatian: nesretan
- Czech: sklíčený
- Danish: elendig
- Dutch: beroerd
- European Spanish: miserable
- Finnish: kurja
- French: malheureux
- German: elend
- Greek: δυστυχής
- Italian: miserabile
- Japanese: 惨めな
- Korean: 비참한
- Norwegian: elendig
- Polish: marny
- European Portuguese: miserável
- Romanian: nefericit
- Russian: жалкий
- Spanish: miserable
- Swedish: eländig
- Thai: ซึ่งเป็นทุกข์
- Turkish: sefil
- Ukrainian: нещасний
- Vietnamese: khốn khổ
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miserable
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miserable
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Definition of miserable from the Collins English Dictionary
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