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

In the book, Auf der Maur portrays this as an unhappy development. — Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2026

With Jones inside the final 12 months of his contract and with no prospect of him signing an extension, Liverpool were faced with either sanctioning his sale this summer or keeping an unhappy player before losing him for nothing next year. — James Pearce, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026

That may explain why Trump is unhappy with the cost of borrowing. — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2026

It's being led by downtown business and property owners, who are unhappy with Davis's efforts to restrict high-rises and other development downtown. — Olivia Young, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026