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Synonyms of 'miserable'

Explore 'miserable' in the dictionary
sadadjectivedrearyadjectiveunpleasantadjectivesullenadjectivepatheticadjective
1 (adjective) 
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)
Opposites
happy
,
cheerful
2 (adjective) 
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.
3 (adjective) 
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)
4 (adjective) 
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.
5 (adjective) 
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
Opposites
respectable
,
admirable
Copyright © 2016 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

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
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,
petulant,
sulky,
ill-tempered,
irascible,
cantankerous,
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
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

Video: pronunciation of 'miserable'

Nearby words of 'miserable'

  • misdeed
  • misdemeanour
  • miser
  • miserable
  • miserliness
  • miserly
  • misery
  • All ENGLISH synonyms that begin with 'M'

Source

Thesaurus for miserable from the Collins English Thesaurus
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Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a type of verb that is created when a main verb is combined with either: an adverb, take off give in blow up break in a preposition, get at (someone) pick on (weaker ch...
Read more about 'Phrasal verbs'
Scrabble score for 'miserable': 13
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