miserable

B1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #2864

Meanings

1

adj
Very unhappy or uncomfortable.

She felt miserable after failing the exam.
2

adj
Very unpleasant and making people feel bad.

We had a miserable, wet weekend stuck indoors.
3

adj
Very small in amount and clearly not enough.

They were paid a miserable wage for such hard work.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very unhappy or uncomfortable. unhappy dejected wretched

2 adj · very unpleasant and making... wretched depressing

Word family

Forms miserableness

Derived forms immiserationimmiserizationmimsymiserabilismmiserabilistmiserabilitymiserablenessmiserablismmiserablistmiserablyunmiserable

Related forms miser misery

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

utterly miserable
Extremely unhappy or uncomfortable.

Adverb + adjective

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French miserable, from Old French, from Latin miserabilis, equivalent to miser + -able.

miserabilis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

External links

# miserable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/
**Frequency rank:** 2864

## Meanings
1. Very unhappy or uncomfortable.
2. Very unpleasant and making people feel bad.
3. Very small in amount and clearly not enough.

## Examples
- She felt miserable after failing the exam.
- We had a miserable, wet weekend stuck indoors.
- They were paid a miserable wage for such hard work.

## Derived Forms
- immiseration
- immiserization
- mimsy
- miserabilism
- miserabilist
- miserability
- miserableness
- miserablism
- miserablist
- miserably
- unmiserable

## Related Forms
- miser
- misery

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: miserabilis

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French miserable, from Old French, from Latin miserabilis, equivalent to miser + -able.

## AI Etymology
Miserable was borrowed from Middle French miserable, from Old French, from Latin miserabilis, equivalent to miser + -able. In present-day English its meanings include very unhappy or uncomfortable, very unpleasant and making people feel bad, and very small in amount and clearly not enough. Related and derived forms include miser, misery, immiseration, and immiserization.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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