misery

See also: Misery

English

Etymology

From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser +‎ -y. Doublet of misère.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/
• (General American) enPR: mĭzʹə-rē, mĭzʹrē, IPA^(key): /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mis‧ery

Noun

misery (countable and uncountable, plural miseries)

1. Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.

   Synonyms: dejection, grief, sorrow; see also Thesaurus:sadness

   Ever since his wife left him you can see the misery on his face.

   • 1578–1579, Edmund Spenser, “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale. [...] Dedicated to the Right Honorable the Ladie Compton and Mountegle”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. Whereof the Next Page Maketh Mention‎^[1], London: Imprinted for VVilliam Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head, published 1591, →OCLC:

     For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.

   • 2008, Charlotte Bingham, The Land of Summer‎^[2]:

     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.

   • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

     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. (US and UK, dialects) A bodily ache or pain.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pain

   • 1868, John Vestal Hadley, Seven Months a Prisoner, page 15:

     [...] 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.

   Synonyms: adversity, woe; see also Thesaurus:woe

5. (Extreme) poverty.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:poverty

   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:

     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: […]

6. (archaic) greed; avarice.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:greed

Derived terms

• Fat Man's Misery
• Misery
• misery enjoys company
• misery guts
• miseryguts
• misery index
• misery lit
• misery loves company
• misery porn
• misery whip
• misery whip
• mountain misery
• put someone out of their misery

 

Related terms

• commiserate
• miser
• miserable

Translations

great unhappiness

• Arabic: شَقَاوَة (šaqāwa), تَعَاسَة (taʕāsa)
• Assamese: বিলৈ (biloi), দুৰ্দশা (durdoxa)
• Azerbaijani: qada, bəla (az), dərd (az), müsibət (az), fəlakət (az)
• Belarusian: няшча́сце f (njaščáscje), бяда́ (be) f (bjadá), го́ра (be) n (hóra)
• Bulgarian: неща́стие (bg) n (neštástie), страда́ние (bg) n (stradánie)
• Catalan: misèria (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 苦難／苦难 (zh) (kǔnàn), 痛苦 (zh) (tòngkǔ), 悲慘／悲惨 (zh) (bēicǎn), 不幸 (zh) (bùxìng), 苦痛 (zh) (kǔtòng)

• Czech: neštěstí (cs) n, bída (cs) f, hoře (cs) n (archaic)
• Danish: elendighed c
• Dutch: ellende (nl) f
• Early Assamese: বিলাই (bilai)
• Esperanto: mizero (eo)
• Finnish: kärsimys (fi), surkeus (fi), kurjuus (fi), kurjuus (fi), surkeus (fi)
• French: misère (fr) f
• Galician: laceira (gl) f, miseria f
• Georgian: უბედურება (ubedureba), წვალება (c̣valeba), წამება (c̣ameba), ტანჯვა (ṭanǯva), გასაჭირი (gasač̣iri), გაჭირვება (gač̣irveba)
• German: Misere (de) f, Elend (de) n
• Greek: αθλιότης f (athliótis)

  Ancient: πῆμα n (pêma) (Epic)

• Guaraní: tekoasy
• Haitian Creole: mizè
• Hausa: uƙuba
• Hebrew: אומללות f (umlalút)
• Ido: mizero (io)
• Irish: aimléis f, galar (ga) m
• Italian: miseria (it) f
• Japanese: 悲惨 (ja) (ひさん, hisan), 苦痛 (ja) (くつう, kutsū), 惨めさ (ja) (みじめさ, mijimesa)
• Ladino: mizerya f
• Latin: miseria f
• Luxembourgish: Misär m
• Macedonian: беда f (beda)
• Malayalam: ദുരിതം (ml) (duritaṁ)
• Maori: kōtonga
• Occitan: misèria (oc) f
• Ottoman Turkish: شقا (şaka)
• Plautdietsch: Älent n, Jauma n
• Polish: nieszczęście (pl) n, męka (pl) f
• Portuguese: miséria (pt)
• Romanian: mizerie (ro) f
• Russian: несча́стье (ru) n (nesčástʹje), го́ре (ru) n (góre), му́ка (ru) f (múka), страда́ние (ru) n (stradánije), беда́ (ru) f (bedá)
• Sanskrit: दुःख (sa) n (duḥkha)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ја̏д m, бе́да f, бије́да f

  Roman: jȁd (sh) m, béda (sh) f, bijéda (sh) f

• Slovak: nešťastie n, bieda f
• Slovene: beda f, nesreča (sl) f
• Spanish: miseria (es) f, sinvivir
• Swedish: misär (sv) c, elände (sv) n
• Ukrainian: неща́стя (uk) n (neščástja), біда́ (uk) f (bidá), го́ре n (hóre)

cause of misery, misfortune

• Bulgarian: несго́да (bg) f (nesgóda)
• Finnish: onnettomuus (fi), kova onni
• Italian: accidente (it)
• Malayalam: ദുരിതം (ml) (duritaṁ)
• Portuguese: miséria (pt) f, desgraça (pt) f
• Russian: невзго́ды (ru) f pl (nevzgódy)
• Spanish: desgracia (es) f, desdicha (es) f, infortunio (es) m

poverty — see also poverty

• Azerbaijani: səfalət
• Belarusian: гале́ча f (haljéča)
• Bulgarian: нищета́ (bg) f (ništetá), бе́дност (bg) f (bédnost)
• Finnish: kurjuus (fi), ahdinko (fi), puutteenalaisuus
• Galician: laceira (gl) f, miseria f, mesquindade (gl) f
• Georgian: სიღატაკე (siɣaṭaḳe), სიღარიბე (siɣaribe)
• Portuguese: miséria (pt) f, indigência (pt) f, penúria (pt) f
• Russian: нищета́ (ru) f (niščetá), бе́дность (ru) f (bédnostʹ)
• Spanish: miseria (es) f, penuria (es) f, indigencia (es) f, estrecheces (es) f pl
• Swedish: misär (sv) c, elände (sv) n, nöd (sv) c, armod (sv) n
• Ukrainian: зли́дні f pl (zlýdni), бі́дність (uk) f (bídnistʹ), нужда́ f (nuždá)

Anagrams

• Myries