ˈmi-zər-bəl
1
as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
spent the night in a miserable jail cell
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unhappy
feeling unhappiness
the awful news made us miserable
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3
as in terrible
of low quality
a miserable meal that I wouldn't feed to a dog
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4
as in dilapidated
showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect
a miserable little apartment
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5
as in poor
deserving of one's pity
miserable refugees from the war-torn country
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6
as in pathetic
deserving pitying scorn (as for inadequacy)
that ugly mutt is one miserable excuse for a dog
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of miserable
Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 26 July 2025
Titled Pluribus, the nine-episode series, described as genre-bending, centers on the most miserable person on Earth, tasked to save the world from happiness, per the enigmatic logline.
—EW.com, 25 July 2025
Now, Lamb once again has a viable running mate on the outside to help make life miserable for opposing defenses on a nightly basis.
—Kevin McCormick, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
For now, this is DeVries on the job: intent but measured, teeth ready to clamp down on his tongue, establishing standards while also very much trying to make sure his team isn’t miserable from the beginning.
—Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for miserable
Noun
Those who can stay cool inside may avoid the most severe consequences but still end up miserable for half of the year.
—Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 26 July 2025
Titled Pluribus, the nine-episode series, described as genre-bending, centers on the most miserable person on Earth, tasked to save the world from happiness, per the enigmatic logline.
—EW.com, 25 July 2025
Now, Lamb once again has a viable running mate on the outside to help make life miserable for opposing defenses on a nightly basis.
—Kevin McCormick, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
For now, this is DeVries on the job: intent but measured, teeth ready to clamp down on his tongue, establishing standards while also very much trying to make sure his team isn’t miserable from the beginning.
—Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for miserable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for miserable
Adjective
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Directed by Paul Schrader with a script by Bret Easton Ellis, this spiritually bleak L.A. drama features Lohan’s most daring performance, and probably the only one that manages to break completely with her childhood and adolescent roles.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
9 Aug. 2025
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The situation is bleak enough that, even if aid increases rapidly in the coming weeks, deaths from starvation are almost certain to rise.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As with almost any change, some residents were unhappy, mostly about being told to slow down.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
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President Donald Trump was unhappy with July’s U.S. jobs report, which showed hiring slowing (with 73,000 jobs added, compared to 100,000 predicted) and revised past months’ numbers.—
Emma Hinchliffe,
Fortune,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Whether your team is in the middle of a winning run or mired in terrible form, five minutes looking at the standings can convince you that a hundred different futures are possible.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2025
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While the latter is known for its legendarily terrible English localization, both of these were highly innovative horizontal scrolling shmups for their time.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Next to a dormant pumpkin farm, the factory, which had once made tubing for hoses, had burned in the nineties; all that remained were four dilapidated and grafittied walls.—
Megan Cummins
August 5,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
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The demolition of the jail this year opened the door to redeveloping the dilapidated building.—
Alysa Guffey,
IndyStar,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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Additionally, over-saturating with water is a poor choice for these floors.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
16 Aug. 2025
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Specifically, poor capital allocation decisions have destroyed significant value.—
Kenneth Squire,
CNBC,
16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Cowardly, unaccountable, pathetic: How much more does anyone really need to know about the incompetence of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System than something that was reported a week ago?—
Chris Powell,
Hartford Courant,
4 Aug. 2025
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Even by his standards, Trump’s effort to find a scapegoat was pretty pathetic.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Alvarez is the pauper of the group, with Judge and Soto combining for $1.125 billion in salary over the lives of their contracts.—
C. Trent Rosecrans,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
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Chelsea are hardly paupers domestically — no Premier League team is nowadays — but there’s a clear financial advantage in finishing higher up the table.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Hero Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) lonely fight for survival gave way to a military mission to vanquish aliens ravaging a human colony; Cameron filled the frame with cocky Marines, boxy space tanks, and an adorable orphan who finds in Ripley a surrogate mother.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Aug. 2025
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The movie Marty was based on Chayefsky’s television drama about two lonely people finding love.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Miserable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/miserable. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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