misery
nouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ//
- United States//ˈmɪz(ə)ɹi//
Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
noun
- 1
Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
Ever since his wife left him you can see the misery on his face.
For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.
It was not just the confusion that unhappiness brings, it was not just the loneliness, it was the despair that accompanies all those emotions that turns unhappiness into utter misery.
Then, in January, a creeping tsunami of train cancellations, triggered by major staff absences as a result of the aggressive transmissibility of Omicron, heaped further misery on rail users.
- 2
A bodily ache or pain.
[...] and I had a misery in my left breast and shoulder. I was hurt, but knew not how or how much.
- 3
Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune.
- 4
poverty.
The Widdow that hath but a pan of braſſe, […] Muſt pay her Landlord many a groat, Or twil be puld out of her throat: […] The rich haue all, the poore liue in miſerie: […]
- 5
archaicgreed; avarice.
Etymology
From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère and mizeria.
Forms
- plural
- miseries
misery · Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
Misery · Derogatory name for Missouri: a state of the United States.misfortune · Synonym of bad luck.misguided · Of a person: lacking proper guidance; misled or mistaken in…