mis ‧ e ‧ ra ‧ ble /ˈmɪz ə rəb ə l/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin miserabilis , from miser ; ⇨ ↑ miser ]
1 . extremely unhappy, for example because you feel lonely, cold, or badly treated:
I’ve been so miserable since Pat left me.
I spent the weekend feeling miserable.
Jan looks really miserable.
Why do you make yourself miserable by taking on too much work?
as miserable as sin British English (=very miserable)
2 . especially British English always bad-tempered, ↑ dissatisfied , or complaining:
He’s a miserable old devil.
3 . [usually before noun] making you feel very unhappy, uncomfortable etc:
They endured hours of backbreaking work in miserable conditions.
Mosquito bites can make life miserable.
4 . miserable weather is cold and dull, with no sun shining:
It was a miserable grey day.
two weeks of miserable weather
5 . [only before noun] very small in amount, or very bad in quality:
I can hardly afford the rent on my miserable income.
The team gave a miserable performance.
6 . miserable failure British English a complete failure:
Her attempts to learn to drive had been a miserable failure.
—miserably adverb :
I failed miserably in my duty to protect her.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ very sad
▪ miserable very sad, especially because you are lonely, cold, ill, or upset – used about people and periods of time:
I felt miserable and blamed myself for what had happened.
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Her life was miserable.
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I had a miserable time at college.
▪ depressed very sad and without hope for a long time, because things are wrong in your life or because of a medical condition:
After his wife left him, he became depressed and refused to talk to anyone.
▪ heartbroken extremely sad because of something that has happened to someone or something that you care about very much:
She was heartbroken when her dog died.
▪ distressed/distraught very upset because of something bad that has happened, so that you cannot think clearly:
She was very distressed when he left her.
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The boy’s hospital bed was surrounded by distraught relatives.
▪ devastated [not before noun] extremely sad and shocked, because something very bad has happened:
The whole town was devastated by the tragedy.