Synonyms of unhappy

unhappy

adjective

ˌən-ˈha-pē 

1

as in sad

feeling unhappiness

he's been unhappy ever since his family's move, which took him away from all his friends

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sad
• depressed
• miserable
• heartbroken
• bad
• upset
• sorry
• worried
• melancholy
• disappointed
• uneasy
• troubled
• sorrowful
• hopeless
• dejected
• mournful
• gloomy
• joyless
• disconsolate
• despondent
• inconsolable
• glum
• heartsick
• saddened
• crestfallen
• wretched
• downcast
• doleful
• woebegone
• distressed
• forlorn
• woeful
• melancholic
• brokenhearted
• suicidal
• blue
• droopy
• depressing
• discouraged
• downhearted
• low-spirited
• hangdog
• down
• heavyhearted
• down in the mouth
• aggrieved
• low
• despairing
• heartsore
• tearful
• cast down
• dispirited
• grieving
• sunk
• disheartened
• regretful
• unquiet
• bleak
• weeping
• anguished
• somber
• desolate
• morbid
• lugubrious
• agonized
• cheerless
• sullen
• plaintive
• morose
• dolorous
• dismal
• lachrymose
• wailing
• rueful
• dark
• dreary
• gray
• comfortless
• black
• saturnine
• murky
• darkening
• elegiac
• drear
• funereal

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• happy
• glad
• joyful
• joyous
• cheerful
• delighted
• jubilant
• ecstatic
• blissful
• cheery
• gleeful
• upbeat
• buoyant
• exuberant
• sunny
• merry
• buoyed
• euphoric
• exultant
• excited
• rapturous
• jolly
• optimistic
• enraptured
• jovial
• chipper
• hopeful
• rhapsodic
• mirthful
• jocular
• rosy
• blithe
• overjoyed
• elated
• jocose
• exhilarated
• sanguine
• satisfied
• gladdened
• energetic
• spirited
• vital
• gladsome
• encouraged
• smiling
• content
• jocund
• pleased
• lively
• entranced
• vivacious
• frisky
• perky
• thrilled
• laughing
• blithesome
• animated
• bouncing
• gratified
• sprightly
• careless
• unconcerned
• peppy
• lightsome
• springy
• jaunty
• carefree
• zippy
• grinning
• easygoing
• lighthearted
• heartened
• cavalier
• boon
• insouciant
• sprightful
• beaming
• happy-go-lucky
• devil-may-care

2

as in unfortunate

having, prone to, or marked by bad luck

she's trying to forget that whole unhappy attempt to start a business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• unfortunate
• disastrous
• unfavorable
• unlucky
• hapless
• luckless
• catastrophic
• doomed
• adverse
• hard-luck
• tragic
• ill-fated
• ill-starred
• jinxed
• damned
• star-crossed
• inauspicious
• snakebit
• unpromising
• ill
• calamitous
• accursed
• untoward

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• happy
• fortunate
• lucky
• privileged
• favorable
• favored
• gifted
• fair
• promising
• golden
• blessed
• propitious
• auspicious

3

as in unsuitable

not appropriate for a particular occasion or situation

a guest unintentionally made unhappy reference to what is a painful situation for the family

Synonyms & Similar Words

• unsuitable
• inappropriate
• wrong
• incorrect
• improper
• unfit
• unfortunate
• irrelevant
• unseemly
• incongruous
• unacceptable
• bad
• infelicitous
• inept
• inconsistent
• out of place
• out of the way
• indecorous
• unbecoming
• perverse
• amiss
• inapt
• awkward
• graceless
• untoward
• unapt
• inapposite
• naughty
• malapropos
• untimely
• inapplicable
• inopportune
• uncongenial
• unsatisfactory
• immaterial
• incompatible
• sinful
• forbidden
• unseasonable
• mismatched
• extraneous
• prohibited
• blameworthy
• blamable
• irrelative
• barred
• censurable
• ungraceful
• disallowed
• proscribed
• outlawed
• gauche
• banned
• misbecoming
• interdicted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• happy
• appropriate
• suitable
• correct
• right
• meet
• proper
• becoming
• fortunate
• relative
• fitting
• relevant
• fit
• applicable
• timely
• apt
• felicitous
• genteel
• opportune
• decorous
• pointed
• congenial
• permitted
• harmonious
• compatible
• material
• pat
• seasonable
• satisfactory
• authorized
• seemly
• apposite
• acceptable
• adequate
• befitting
• endorsed
• approved
• promoted
• licensed
• fine
• supported
• allowed
• all right
• decent
• OK
• encouraged
• tolerable
• respectable
• sanctioned
• kosher
• germane
• apropos
• creditable
• commendable
• passable
• exemplary
• blameless
• balanced
• irreproachable
• consonant
• abetted
• companionate
• congruous

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of unhappy

But Buckingham Palace staff are reportedly unhappy again about the idea of accommodating the duke. — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 28 July 2026

Unbeknownst to the visitors, there’s an unhappy fifth party already in the house… and more than one homicidal maniac even within that small populace. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 28 July 2026

The administration’s concern is a little odd, given its indifference to so many other laws, but the White House is contending with an unhappy public and growing anger among Republicans in Congress, which never authorized the conflict with Iran. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 27 July 2026

Was this about one of you being really unhappy with the streaming culture of people skipping opening credits? — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 23 July 2026