MISERABLE

measly, miserable, paltry

(adjective) contemptibly small in amount; “a measly tip”; “the company donated a miserable $100 for flood relief”; “a paltry wage”; “almost depleted his miserable store of dried beans”

miserable, wretched

(adjective) characterized by physical misery; “a wet miserable weekend”; “spent a wretched night on the floor”

abject, low, low-down, miserable, scummy, scurvy

(adjective) of the most contemptible kind; “abject cowardice”; “a low stunt to pull”; “a low-down sneak”; “his miserable treatment of his family”; “You miserable skunk!”; “a scummy rabble”; “a scurvy trick”

hapless, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched

(adjective) deserving or inciting pity; “a hapless victim”; “miserable victims of war”; “the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic”- Galsworthy; “piteous appeals for help”; “pitiable homeless children”; “a pitiful fate”; “Oh, you poor thing”; “his poor distorted limbs”; “a wretched life”

miserable, suffering, wretched

(adjective) very unhappy; full of misery; “he felt depressed and miserable”; “a message of hope for suffering humanity”; “wretched prisoners huddled in stinking cages”

deplorable, execrable, miserable, woeful, wretched

(adjective) of very poor quality or condition; “deplorable housing conditions in the inner city”; “woeful treatment of the accused”; “woeful errors of judgment”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

miserable (comparative miserabler or more miserable, superlative miserablest or most miserable)

In a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor.

Very bad (at something); unskilled, incompetent.

Wretched; worthless; mean.

(obsolete) Causing unhappiness or misery.

(obsolete) Avaricious; niggardly; miserly.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "miserable" is often applied: life, condition, state, situation, day, time, creature, person, child, failure, place, world, season, year, week, experience, feeling, work, town, city, wage, job, case, excuse, dog.

Synonyms

• (in a state of misery): See Thesaurus:sad

• (very bad (at)): See Thesaurus:unskilled

• (wretched): See Thesaurus:despicable

• (causing unhappiness): See Thesaurus:lamentable

• (miserly): See Thesaurus:stingy

Noun

miserable (plural miserables)

A miserable person; a wretch.

Anagrams

• marbelise, marbleise

Source: Wiktionary


Mis"er*a*ble, a. Etym: [F. misérable, L. miserabilis, fr. miserari to lament, pity, fr. miser wretched. See Miser.]

1. Very unhappy; wretched. What hopes delude thee, miserable man Dryden.

2. Causing unhappiness or misery. What 's more miserable than discontent Shak.

3. Worthless; mean; despicable; as, a miserable fellow; a miserable dinner. Miserable comforters are ye all. Job xvi. 2.

4. Avaricious; niggardly; miserly. [Obs.] Hooker.

Syn.

– Abject; forlorn; pitiable; wretched.

Mis"er*a*ble, n.

Definition: A miserable person. [Obs.] Sterne.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

14 March 2025

PARASITISM

(noun) the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)


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