Miserable Synonyms | Collins English Thesaurus

1 (adjective) in the sense of sad

unhappy or depressed

She went to bed, miserable and depressed.

Synonyms

sad

The loss left me feeling sad and empty.

down

The old man sounded really down.

low

`I didn't ask for this job, you know,' he tells friends when he is low.

depressed

He seemed somewhat depressed.

distressed

gloomy

He is gloomy about the fate of the economy.

dismal

You can't occupy yourself with dismal thoughts all the time.

afflicted

melancholy

It was at this time of day that I felt most melancholy.

heartbroken

I was heartbroken when you left.

desolate

He was desolate without her.

forlorn

He looked a forlorn figure as he limped off.

mournful

He looked mournful, even near to tears.

dejected

Everyone has days when they feel dejected or down.

broken-hearted

despondent

He often felt despondent after these meetings.

downcast

a glum, downcast expression

sorrowful

His father's face looked suddenly soft and sorrowful.

wretched

The wretched look on the little girl's face melted his heart.

disconsolate

He was looking increasingly disconsolate.

crestfallen

He looked crestfallen when she turned him down.

doleful

He stared over his glasses with a doleful look.

down in the dumps (informal)

woebegone

She sniffed and looked quite woebegone.

down in the mouth (informal)

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Opposites

happy

cheerful

2 (adjective) in the sense of dreary

sordid or squalid

There was nothing in this miserable place to distract him.

Synonyms

dreary

a dreary little town in the Midwest

bleak

The immediate outlook remains bleak.

desolate

a desolate, godforsaken place

sorry

depressing

the depressing thought of his mother's death

foul

dismal

The main part of the hospital is pretty dismal.

shabby

a rather shabby Naples hotel

vile

a vile and despicable crime

unhappy

Her marriage is in trouble and she is desperately unhappy.

seedy

a seedy hotel close to the red light district

sordid

the attic windows of their sordid little rooms

squalid

The migrants have been living in squalid conditions.

dilapidated

wretched

What a wretched excuse!

cheerless

The kitchen was a dank and cheerless room.

godforsaken

I don't want to stay in this God-forsaken country.

uninviting

scungy (Australian, New Zealand)

He was living in some scungy flat on the outskirts of town.

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3 (adjective) in the sense of unpleasant

causing misery or discomfort

a grey, wet, miserable day

Synonyms

unpleasant

They tolerated what they felt was an unpleasant situation.

wet

It was a miserable wet day.

rainy

a rainy night

stormy

rotten (informal)

You rotten swine!

dreich (Scottish)

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4 (adjective) in the sense of sullen

unhappy or depressed

He always was a miserable man. He never spoke to anyone.

Synonyms

sullen

The offenders lapsed into a sullen silence.

sour

He became a sour, lonely old man.

moody

Don't go all moody on me!

grumpy

I know people think I'm a grumpy old man.

gloomy

sombre

The pair were in sombre mood.

bad-tempered

a crusty, bad-tempered, ill-humoured old gentleman

glum

What are you both looking so glum about?

surly

He behaves in a surly and rude manner towards me.

sulky

a sulky adolescent

taciturn

ill-tempered

You sound like an ill-tempered child.

humourless

lugubrious

He plays it so slowly that it becomes lugubrious.

cantankerous

You're just a cantankerous old man.

grouchy

Grandfather is a grouchy old so-and-so.

peevish

Lack of sleep always made him peevish.

saturnine

He is a saturnine man who speaks with precision and pedantic care.

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5 (adjective) in the sense of pathetic

mean or ungenerous

They have so far accepted only a miserable 1,100 refugees.

Synonyms

pathetic

That's the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard.

low

That was a really low trick.

sorry

She is in a sorry state.

disgraceful

I complained about his disgraceful behaviour.

mean

Upstaging the bride was a particularly mean trick.

shameful

It is a shameful state of affairs.

shabby

It was hard to know why the man deserved such shabby treatment.

abject

Both of them died in abject poverty.

despicable

He said it was a despicable crime.

deplorable

Many of them work under deplorable conditions.

lamentable

He admitted he was partly to blame for England's lamentable performance.

contemptible

Her husband is a contemptible little man.

It was an utterly contemptible thing to do.

scurvy (old-fashioned)

It was a scurvy trick to play.

pitiable

Her grandmother seemed to her a pitiable figure.

detestable

piteous

a piteous sight

See examples for each synonym

Opposites

respectable

admirable

Additional synonyms

in the sense of abject

utterly miserable

Both of them died in abject poverty.

Synonyms

wretched,

miserable,

hopeless,

dismal,

outcast,

pitiful,

forlorn,

deplorable,

pitiable

See examples for each synonym

in the sense of bad-tempered

a crusty, bad-tempered, ill-humoured old gentleman

Synonyms

irritable,

cross,

angry,

tense,

crabbed,

fiery,

grumbling,

snarling,

prickly,

exasperated,

edgy,

snappy,

sullen,

touchy,

surly,

sulky,

tetchy,

ratty (British, New Zealand, informal),

tooshie (Australian, slang),

testy,

chippy (informal),

fretful,

grouchy (informal),

querulous,

peevish,

crabby,

huffy,

dyspeptic,

choleric,

splenetic (literary),

crotchety (informal),

oversensitive,

snappish,

ill-humoured,

liverish,

narky (British, slang),

out of humour

See examples for each synonym

in the sense of bleak

offering little hope

The immediate outlook remains bleak.

Synonyms

dismal,

black,

dark,

depressing,

grim,

discouraging,

gloomy,

hopeless,

dreary,

sombre,

unpromising,

disheartening,

joyless,

cheerless,

comfortless

See examples for each synonym

Synonyms of 'miserable'

Additional synonyms

Video: pronunciation of 'miserable'

Nearby words of 'miserable'

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