miserable

Universal Words adjective 1 very unhappy or uncomfortable: We were cold, wet and thoroughly miserable. * Don't look so miserable! * She knows how to make life miserable for her employees. 2 making you feel very unhappy or uncomfortable SYNDEPRESSING: miserable housing conditions * I spent a miserable weekend alone at home. * What a miserable day (= cold and wet)! * The play was a miserable failure. 3 [onlybeforenoun] (disapproving) (of a person) always unhappy, bad-tempered and unfriendly: He was a miserable old devil. 4 too small in quantity: How can anyone live on such a miserable wage? miserably adverb: They wandered around miserably. * a miserably cold day * He failed miserably as an actor. IDIOMS see SINn.