ˈmiz(ə)rē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English miserie, misere, from Middle French, from Latin miseria, from miser wretched, miserable + -ia -y
1. : a state of suffering and want that is the result of poverty or other external conditions
the flood brought misery to hundreds whom it made homeless
living in overcrowded slums in conditions of great misery
2. : a circumstance, thing, or place that causes suffering or discomfort : calamity , misfortune
primitive societies in process of disappearance are therefore usually full of maladjustments, miseries, and unsolved problems — A.L.Kroeber
a thin misery of rain, chilling and spiteful — T.H.Jones
it was a terrible country … tamarack swamps, and spruce thickets, and windfalls, and all kinds of misery — Henry van Dyke
3. : a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress
had killed her father, cheated and shamed herself with a remorse horribly spurious, exchanged content for misery — Arnold Bennett
had misery and loneliness in their eyes — Bruce Marshall
4. dialect : pain , ache
had a misery in his back, it bothered him so much there were days when he couldn't ride — Ross Santee
5. : a wretched person or animal
we want to see our weaned foals nice and round and solid, and we do not want to see any dull-coated, potbellied little miseries — Henry Wynmalen
6. : misère
Synonyms: see distress