unhappy

adjective

un·​hap·​py ˌən-ˈha-pē 

1

: not fortunate : unlucky

an unhappy coincidence

2

: not cheerful or glad : sad, wretched

3

a

: causing or subject to misfortune : inauspicious

b

: infelicitous, inappropriate

an unhappy choice

unhappiness noun

Synonyms

• sad
• depressed
• miserable
• heartbroken
• bad
• upset
• sorry
• worried
• melancholy
• disappointed

Examples of unhappy in a Sentence

I can see that he's unhappy, but I don't know why.

I've never seen her looking so unhappy.

For three unhappy days we were all stuck in the house because of the blizzard.

an unhappy choice of career

The movie's hero meets an unhappy fate.

Recent Examples on the Web

And a surprising amount of grace from staff who, although unhappy with the changes, felt respected. —Taazima Kala, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025

The Heat, at the time, wanted to dump Lowry — who was unhappy about his diminished role — and believed Rozier would give Miami an offensive infusion. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2025

But the new move enables them to not only cement their life in Windsor for the long term, but also to leave some of those unhappy associations behind them. —Simon Perry, People.com, 19 Aug. 2025

Real Madrid are unhappy, too, releasing a statement that objects on the grounds of a fair league competition. —Michael Cox, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for unhappy

• chappie
• happy
• nappy
• pappy
• sappy
• scrappy
• snappy

Kids Definition

unhappy

adjective

un·​hap·​py ˌən-ˈhap-ē 

1

: not fortunate : unlucky

an unhappy mistake

2

: not cheerful : sad

3

: inappropriate

an unhappy color combination

unhappily

-ˈhap-ə-lē

adverb

unhappiness

-ˈhap-i-nəs

noun