misery
Americannoun
plural
miseries-
wretchedness of condition or circumstances.
- Synonyms:
- trial, tribulation, suffering
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distress or suffering caused by need, privation, or poverty.
-
great mental or emotional distress; extreme unhappiness.
- Synonyms:
- desolation, torment, woe, anguish, grief
- Antonyms:
- happiness
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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
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.
All those years of misery just proved to be the prologue to the most shocking story from the tournament’s opening rounds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
Her experiences are almost mythic, like peering through the looking glass at a time when misery could actively coexist with unbridled bliss.
From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026
Tuesday’s loss only compounded the misery of a second straight frustrating season, in all too familiar fashion.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
The penalty was costly and Scotland and Russell took full advantage, with their misery being compounded by the nature of George Turner's match-winning try.
From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026
“It shrouds mortals in misery as their souls pass into the Underworld. It is the very breath of Tartarus, of death, of despair!”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
