VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

misery

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˈmɪzəri/
US/ˈmɪzəri/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable or uncountable

    A state of great unhappiness or suffering in mind or body.

    Grammar: Often uncountable; plural miseries for separate sorrows.

    Patterns

    • in misery
    • the misery of something

    She lived in misery after losing her job.

    The cold, wet camp was pure misery.

    The war brought endless misery to the village.

  2. nouncountable

    Something that causes unhappiness or hardship.

    Grammar: Usually plural: the miseries of travel.

    Patterns

    • the miseries of something

    He wrote about the miseries of poverty.

    The long commute is one of life's small miseries.

    The flu was a misery for the whole family.

  3. nouncountableBritishinformal

    A person who is always complaining or looking gloomy.

    Grammar: British informal: don't be such a misery.

    Patterns

    • a misery guts

    Don't be such a misery; the day isn't that bad.

    My uncle is a bit of a misery at parties.

    She called him a misery for moaning all trip.

Word forms

pluralmiseries

Common combinations

human misery
Famine causes enormous human misery.
put someone out of their misery
Just tell me the results and put me out of my misery.
make someone's life a misery
The noisy neighbors made her life a misery.
in abject misery
They lived in abject misery in the camp.
misery loves company
Misery loves company, so we complained together.
cause misery
Bad weather can cause misery for campers.

Synonyms and how they differ

unhappiness
Unhappiness is milder and can be passing, while misery is deep and often long-lasting.
suffering
Suffering stresses pain endured, including physical pain, whereas misery stresses the wretched feeling.
wretchedness
Wretchedness is more formal and literary than misery.
distress
Distress suggests acute trouble or anxiety, while misery is a sustained low state.

Opposites

happinessjoy

Word family

miserable adjective
very unhappy or unpleasant
miserably adverb
in an unhappy way
miser noun
someone who hates spending money (different meaning but similar form)

Commonly confused: misery or miser?

misery vs miser

A miser is a person who hoards money; misery is great unhappiness.

Practice

The soldiers endured weeks of cold and hunger, a time of great ___.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “misery”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words