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

Klarna sees itself as a hero – leaping high hurdles to win over 100 million unhappy bank customers. —Peter Cohan, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025

The one constant is the unhappy couple’s bleak surroundings. —Adam Solomons, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025

Rounding out the unhappy home — two times a week, anyway — is Rina (Monika Frajczyk), an undocumented Macedonian housekeeper who’s been half-persuaded and half-threatened by Chris into taking the job despite her horror at seeing Tommy trapped in the basement. —Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025

Both Ways on Netflix The Lovebirds In the 2020 adventure comedy The Lovebirds, Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani play an unhappy couple on the brink of splitting up. —James Mercadante, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 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