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MISERABLE: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for MISERABLE?

Need another word that means the same as “miserable”? Find 143 synonyms and 30 related words for “miserable” in this overview.

Table Of Contents:

Miserable as an Adjective
Definitions of "Miserable" as an adjective
Synonyms of "Miserable" as an adjective (143 Words)
Usage Examples of "Miserable" as an adjective
Associations of "Miserable" (30 Words)

The synonyms of “Miserable” are: deplorable, execrable, woeful, wretched, measly, paltry, hapless, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, abject, low, low-down, scummy, scurvy, suffering, unhappy, sad, sorrowful, dejected, depressed, downcast, downhearted, down, despondent, despairing, disconsolate, out of sorts, desolate, bowed down, glum, gloomy, dismal, blue, melancholy, melancholic, low-spirited, mournful, woebegone, doleful, forlorn, crestfallen, heartbroken, inconsolable, luckless, grief-stricken, dreary, dark, drab, sombre, depressing, grim, cheerless, godforsaken, bleak, joyless, uninviting, discouraging, disheartening, unpromising, hopeless, dire, tragic, distressing, grievous, unpleasant, disagreeable, displeasing, uncomfortable, grumpy, sullen, sulky, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, in a bad mood, dour, surly, sour, moody, unsmiling, humourless, uncommunicative, taciturn, unresponsive, unsociable, scowling, glowering, ill-humoured, sober, saturnine, pessimistic, lugubrious, irritable, churlish, cantankerous, crotchety, cross, crabbed, crabby, grouchy, testy, snappish, peevish, crusty, waspish, contemptible, despicable, confounded, inadequate, meagre, scanty, scant, limited, restricted, insufficient, deficient, negligible, insubstantial, skimpy, short, little, lean, small, slight, slender, lamentable, puny, niggardly, beggarly, miserly, parsimonious, penny-pinching, ungenerous, penurious, illiberal, close, grasping, greedy, avaricious, acquisitive

Miserable as an Adjective

Definitions of "Miserable" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “miserable” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

Contemptibly small in amount.
Of very poor quality or condition.
Of the most contemptible kind.
(of a person) wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable.
Deserving or inciting pity.
(of a person) habitually morose.
Pitiably small or inadequate.
Characterized by physical misery.
Very unhappy; full of misery.
Contemptible (used as a term of abuse or for emphasis.
Miserly.
Deserving or inciting pity- Galsworthy.
Causing unhappiness or discomfort.

Synonyms of "Miserable" as an adjective (143 Words)

abject	Most unfortunate or miserable. Abject cowardice.
acquisitive	Excessively interested in acquiring money or material things. We live in a competitive and acquisitive* society.*
avaricious	Immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth. A corrupt and avaricious* government.*
bad-tempered	Annoyed and irritable.
beggarly	Marked by poverty befitting a beggar. The stipend in 1522 was a beggarly* 26 shillings.*
bleak	(of an area of land) lacking vegetation and exposed to the elements. He looked round the bleak* little room in despair.*
blue	Of a bird or other animal having blue markings. Blue blood.
bowed down	Have legs that curve outward at the knees.
cantankerous	Stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate. A cantankerous* and venomous tongued old lady.*
cheerless	Gloomy; depressing. The corridors were ill lit and cheerless.
churlish	Rude and boorish. It seems churlish* to complain.*
close	Fitting closely but comfortably. A close* secret.*
confounded	Perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment. A cloudy and confounded* philosopher.*
contemptible	Deserving contempt; despicable. A display of contemptible* cowardice.*
crabbed	Bad-tempered. A crabbed* unhappy middle age.*
crabby	Annoyed and irritable. He was crabby* at having his siesta interrupted.*
crestfallen	Brought low in spirit. He came back empty handed and crestfallen.
cross	Extending or lying across in a crosswise direction at right angles to the long axis. He seemed to be very cross* about something.*
crotchety	Having a difficult and contrary disposition- Dorothy Sayers. He was tired and crotchety.
crusty	Having or acting as a hard outer layer or covering. A crusty* old Scots judge.*
dark	Having a dark hue. A dark* purpose.*
deficient	Insufficient or inadequate. The documentary evidence is deficient.
dejected	Sad and depressed; dispirited. Is dejected* but trying to look cheerful.*
deplorable	Bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure. Deplorable housing conditions in the inner city.
depressed	(of a person) in a state of unhappiness or despondency. The market is depressed.
depressing	Causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy. The mortgage rate increase will have a depressing* effect on the housing market.*
desolate	Providing no shelter or sustenance. A low desolate* wail.*
despairing	Showing the loss of all hope. The last despairing* plea of the condemned criminal.*
despicable	Deserving hatred and contempt. A despicable* crime.*
despondent	Without or almost without hope. She grew more and more despondent.
dire	Of a very poor quality. A career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked.
disagreeable	Not agreeing with your tastes or expectations. Aspects of his work are disagreeable* to him.*
disconsolate	Very unhappy and unable to be comforted. She left Fritz looking disconsolate.
discouraging	Expressing disapproval. Where never is heard a discouraging* word.*
disheartening	Causing someone to lose determination or confidence; discouraging or dispiriting. Her death is particularly disheartening* because it was preventable.*
dismal	Causing dejection. The dismal* weather made the late afternoon seem like evening.*
displeasing	Causing displeasure or lacking pleasing qualities. It was not entirely displeasing* to be the centre of such a drama.*
distressing	Causing anxiety, sorrow or pain; upsetting. Some very distressing* news.*
doleful	Expressing sorrow; mournful. The child s doleful* expression.*
dour	Relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance. A hard dour* humourless fanatic.*
down	Denoting a flavour variety of stable quark having relatively low mass and an electric charge of 1 3 In the Standard Model protons and neutrons are composed of up and down quarks. Sorry but the computer s down.
downcast	Directed downward. A downcast* glance.*
downhearted	Filled with melancholy and despondency. Fans must not be downhearted* even though we lost.*
drab	Lacking brightness or color; dull. Drab faded curtains.
dreary	Lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise. A series of dreary* dinner parties.*
execrable	Unequivocally detestable. Execrable cheap wine.
forlorn	(of an aim or endeavour) unlikely to succeed or be fulfilled. Forlorn figures at bus stops.
gloomy	Depressingly dark. Gloomy forecasts about the economy.
glowering	Showing a brooding ill humor.
glum	Looking or feeling dejected; morose. The princess looked glum* but later cheered up.*
godforsaken	Lacking any merit or attraction. What are you doing in this godforsaken* place.*
grasping	Avaricious; greedy. A grasping* old miser.*
greedy	Wanting to eat or drink more than one can reasonably consume. Don t be greedy* with the cookies.*
grief-stricken	Sorrowful through loss or deprivation.
grievous	Of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought. The American fleet suffered grievous* losses.*
grim	Depressing or worrying to consider. Took a grim* view of the economy.*
grouchy	Annoyed and irritable. The old man grew sulky and grouchy.
grumpy	Bad-tempered and irritable. His performance as the grumpy* gateman.*
hapless	(especially of a person) unfortunate. The hapless* victims of the disaster.*
heartbroken	Full of sorrow. He was heartbroken* at the thought of leaving the house.*
hopeless	Of a person unable to do something skillfully. The situation is hopeless.
humourless	Lacking humour; not able to appreciate or express humour. They are such a humourless* bunch.*
ill-humoured	Brusque and surly and forbidding.
ill-tempered	Annoyed and irritable.
illiberal	Not generous; mean. Illiberal and anti democratic policies.
in a bad mood	Currently fashionable.
inadequate	Of insufficient quantity to meet a need. These labels prove to be wholly inadequate.
inconsolable	Sad beyond comforting; incapable of being consoled. His widow Jane was inconsolable.
insubstantial	Lacking in nutritive value. Insubstantial evidence.
insufficient	Not enough; inadequate. There was insufficient* evidence to convict him.*
irritable	(of a body part) abnormally sensitive. She was tired and irritable.
joyless	Not giving or feeling any pleasure or satisfaction; grim or dismal. A joyless* occasion.*
lamentable	Bad; unfortunate. A lamentable* decision.*
lean	Lacking excess flesh. A lean* year.*
limited	Denoting a limited company used after a company name. A limited* list of choices.*
little	Small and of little importance. A little* house.*
low	Very low in volume. Training will be given low* priority.*
low-down	Of the most contemptible kind.
low-spirited	Filled with melancholy and despondency.
luckless	Having bad luck; unfortunate. An osprey seized the luckless* fish with its talons.*
lugubrious	Looking or sounding sad and dismal. His face looked even more lugubrious* than usual.*
meagre	(of a person or animal) lean; thin. A meagre* diet of bread and beans.*
measly	Ridiculously small or few. A measly* tip.*
melancholic	Feeling or expressing pensive sadness. Her melancholic* smile.*
melancholy	Having a feeling of melancholy sad and pensive. Growing more melancholy* every hour.*
miserly	(used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity. The prize for the winner will be a miserly* 3 500.*
misfortunate	Deserving or inciting pity.
moody	Giving an impression of melancholy or mystery. His moody* adolescent brother.*
mournful	Filled with or evoking sadness. Her large mournful* eyes.*
negligible	So small as to be meaningless; insignificant. He said that the risks were negligible.
niggardly	Meagre and given grudgingly. A niggardly* shoestring budget.*
out of sorts	Outer or outlying.
paltry	Petty; trivial. She would earn a paltry* 33 more a month.*
parsimonious	Very unwilling to spend money or use resources. Parsimonious thrift relieved by few generous impulses.
pathetic	Miserably inadequate; of very low standard. The shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic.
peevish	Easily irritated or annoyed. A thin peevish* voice.*
penny-pinching	Giving or spending with reluctance.
penurious	Unwilling to spend money; mean. Penurious years.
pessimistic	Tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen. He was pessimistic* about the prospects.*
piteous	Deserving or inciting pity. Piteous appeals for help.
pitiable	Contemptibly poor or small. A pitiable* imitation of the real thing.*
pitiful	Compassionate. A pitiful* attempt to impress her.*
poor	Unsatisfactory. His poor* distorted limbs.*
puny	Inferior in strength or significance. The army was reduced to a puny* 100 000 men.*
restricted	Restricted in meaning as e g man in a tall man. Some enzymes cleave DNA at restricted* sites.*
sad	Of things that make you feel sad Christina Rossetti. Feeling sad* because his dog had died.*
saturnine	Showing a brooding ill humor. A saturnine* temperament.*
scant	Barely amounting to a specified number or quantity. She weighed a scant* two pounds.*
scanty	Small or insufficient in quantity or amount. They paid whatever they could out of their scanty* wages to their families.*
scowling	Sullen or unfriendly in appearance.
scummy	Covered with scum. The scummy* surface of the polluted pond.*
scurvy	Worthless or contemptible. That was a scurvy* trick.*
short	Of a broker position in the market etc buying or based on short stocks or other securities or commodities. Money is short.
skimpy	Containing little excess. A skimpy* allowance.*
slender	Being of delicate or slender build. People of slender* means.*
slight	(especially of a creative work) not profound or substantial; rather trivial or superficial. A slight* ankle injury.*
small	Have fine or very small constituent particles. Helped in my own small* way.*
snappish	Apt to speak irritably. She was often snappish* with the children.*
sober	Serious, sensible, and solemn. As sober* as a judge.*
sombre	Having or conveying a feeling of deep seriousness and sadness. The night skies were sombre* and starless.*
sorrowful	Causing grief. Sorrowful news.
sour	Showing a brooding ill humor- Bruce Bli. She sampled the wine and found it was sour.
suffering	Troubled by pain or loss. A message of hope for suffering* humanity.*
sulky	Expressing or suggesting gloom and bad temper. Disappointment was making her sulky.
sullen	Showing a brooding ill humor- Bruce Bli. A sullen* crowd.*
surly	Bad-tempered and unfriendly. A surly* waiter.*
taciturn	(of a person) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little. After such gatherings she would be taciturn* and morose.*
testy	Easily irritated or annoyed. His testy* disapproving father.*
tragic	Relating to tragedy in a literary work. The same rules apply whether the plot is tragic* or comic.*
uncomfortable	Causing or feeling unease or awkwardness. He began to feel uncomfortable* at the man s hard stare.*
uncommunicative	Unwilling to talk or impart information. The uncommunicative* Emily disappeared.*
ungenerous	Lacking in magnanimity- Times Litt. Sup. He was not an ungenerous* man.*
unhappy	Generalized feeling of distress. The unhappy* or sad news.*
uninviting	Neither attractive nor tempting. The house was dark and uninviting.
unpleasant	Offensive or disagreeable; causing discomfort or unhappiness. Unpleasant repercussions.
unpromising	Not giving hope of future success or good results. The boy s natural intellect had survived in unpromising* circumstances.*
unresponsive	Aloof or indifferent. Was unresponsive* to her passionate advances.*
unsmiling	(of a person or their manner or expression) serious or unfriendly; not smiling. A large unsmiling* woman.*
unsociable	Not enjoying or making an effort to behave sociably in the company of others. An unsociable* nature shy and reserved.*
waspish	Readily expressing anger or irritation. Witty and waspish* about his colleagues.*
woebegone	Affected by or full of grief or woe. Don t look so woebegone* Joanna.*
woeful	Of very poor quality or condition. Woeful errors of judgment.
wretched	Of poor quality; very bad. I felt so wretched* because I thought I might never see you again.*

Usage Examples of "Miserable" as an adjective

All they pay me is a miserable £8,000 a year.
A lousy dollar a day—could any government be more miserable?
The company donated a miserable $100 for flood relief.
A wet miserable weekend.
His miserable treatment of his family.
Their happiness made Anne feel even more miserable.
A miserable man in his late sixties.
Almost depleted his miserable store of dried beans.
You miserable skunk!
Horribly wet and miserable conditions.
He felt depressed and miserable.
You miserable old creep!
Miserable victims of war.

Associations of "Miserable" (30 Words)

abject	(of a person or their behaviour) completely without pride or dignity; self-abasing. Abject cowardice.
affliction	An instance of one celestial body afflicting another. Poor people in great affliction.
dejected	Sad and depressed; dispirited. Is dejected* but trying to look cheerful.*
dejection	A sad and depressed state; low spirits. He was slumped in deep dejection.
deplorable	Deserving strong condemnation; completely unacceptable. Deplorable housing conditions in the inner city.
disappointment	A person or thing that causes disappointment. The job proved a disappointment.
disastrous	Having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin. A disastrous* fire swept through the museum.*
discourage	Deprive of courage or hope take away hope from cause to feel discouraged. We should discourage* this practice among our youth.*
grief	Intense sorrow, especially caused by someone’s death. Time heals griefs and quarrels.
grieve	Feel intense sorrow about. His behavior grieves his mother.
hapless	Deserving or inciting pity. A hapless* victim.*
inferior	Of low or inferior quality. Her social and intellectual inferiors.
lamentable	Full of or expressing sorrow or grief. The lamentable* friends trailing their long black garments.*
mournful	Filled with or evoking sadness. Stared with mournful* eyes.*
mourning	The expression of sorrow for someone’s death. She s still in mourning* after the death of her husband.*
pathetic	Inspiring scornful pity. Their efforts were pathetic.
piteous	Deserving or inciting pity- Galsworthy. Piteous appeals for help.
pitiable	Deserving or inciting pity. Pitiable lack of character.
pitiful	Inspiring mixed contempt and pity. Pitiful exhibition of cowardice.
pity	The feeling of sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering and misfortunes of others. Her voice was full of pity.
regrettable	Deserving regret. Regrettable remarks.
sad	Of things that make you feel sad Christina Rossetti. Feeling sad* because his dog had died.*
sadness	The state of being sad. She tired of his perpetual sadness.
sorrowful	Experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss. Sorrowful widows.
sorry	Used as a polite request that someone should repeat something that one has failed to hear or understand. He said he was sorry* he had upset me.*
unfortunate	A person who is considered immoral or lacking in religious faith or instruction, especially a prostitute. An unfortunate* decision.*
unhappy	Generalized feeling of distress. After the argument they lapsed into an unhappy* silence.*
unlucky	Having, bringing, or resulting from bad luck. Friday the 13th is an unlucky* date.*
worthless	(of a person) having no good qualities; deserving contempt. Joan had been deserted by a worthless* husband.*
wretched	Characterized by physical misery. A wretched* life.*