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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of miserable
David Goldman, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
Whoever’s on the team ends up needing a little support from Robert, with their teammates miserable about losing one of their own to an inadequate sub.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
Choose costumes wisely There’s nothing cuter than a dog or cat in costume, but playing dress up can be miserable for your pet.
—Kelsey Monstrola, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Ellen’s head is a manifestly miserable place to spend time even before she’s injured while working on The Baroness, a macabre occult film made by a gay Jewish man in the twilight of the Weimar Republic and rescued from the secret collection of a dead Nazi.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for miserable
Adjective
Chipotle on Wednesday reported miserable earnings and cut its sales-growth forecast for the third-straight quarter.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
Whoever’s on the team ends up needing a little support from Robert, with their teammates miserable about losing one of their own to an inadequate sub.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
Choose costumes wisely There’s nothing cuter than a dog or cat in costume, but playing dress up can be miserable for your pet.
—Kelsey Monstrola, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
Ellen’s head is a manifestly miserable place to spend time even before she’s injured while working on The Baroness, a macabre occult film made by a gay Jewish man in the twilight of the Weimar Republic and rescued from the secret collection of a dead Nazi.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for miserable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for miserable
Adjective
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While the eradication of our species might sound like a bleak ending note, Lanthimos tells EW that audiences are divided on whether the film presents a hopeful or pessimistic view of the future.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
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Duffy painted a bleak scene at airports if the shutdown is not ended before Thanksgiving travel.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Pauline Collins, the exuberant British actress who inspired women — and men, too — to do something to change their unhappy lives with her Oscar-nominated and Olivier- and Tony-winning performances in Shirley Valentine, has died.—
Lisa de los Reyes,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Nov. 2025
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That distaste didn’t hurt Spanberger and her ticket, because 18% of those unhappy voters backed her anyway.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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There have always been fascist forces, there have always been people who are just terrible in the American government, but at the same time, there are always people who have resisted, and there are always people who have still found ways to create joy, to create life, to create art, despite these.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Marchand’s terrible week ended with joy.—
Adam H. Beasley,
Miami Herald,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Earlier this year, Saiz Bilbao arrived at a dilapidated building still under construction, its entrance via a seemingly endless stretch of stairs that led to a window-less hostel.—
Georgiana Ralphs,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
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Now, charred and dilapidated buildings dot the small city center.—
NPR,
NPR,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The Ministry of Environment blamed this year’s surge on a poor acorn harvest – which drove a similar spate of attacks in 2023.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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Rather, the slow start (by Ovechkin’s standards) to this season seemed due more to poor puck luck.—
Sean Gentille,
New York Times,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Enter Claude Whelan, played by James Callis, a fine actor with a face that can contort itself into about a dozen different versions of misery and pathetic dismay.—
Brian Grubb,
Vulture,
29 Oct. 2025
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Ratcheting up the pressure on the pathetic Putin will be the only way this war ends.—
Chicago Tribune,
Twin Cities,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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There were also prisoners, paupers and unclaimed bodies who went into mass graves, including remains of 39,307 Catholics at Holy Cross.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
25 Oct. 2025
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Instead, town officials buried him in a pauper’s grave.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The touching dramedy centers on a lonely American actor (Brendan Fraser) who, after seven years living in Tokyo, still feels like an outsider.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
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Phantom Son will center on Ronnie, a young and struggling runaway taken in by Audrey (Zellweger), a lonely woman whose own son was kidnapped twenty years earlier.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Miserable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/miserable. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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