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misery

[miz-uh-ree]

Example Sentences Origin

noun, plural -er·ies.

wretchedness of condition or circumstances.

distress or suffering caused by need, privation, or poverty.

great mental or emotional distress; extreme unhappiness.

a cause or source of distress.

Older Use.

a pain: a misery in my left side.

rheumatism.

Often, miseries. a case or period of despondency or gloom.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English miserie < Latin miseria, equivalent to miser wretched + -ia -y³

Synonyms
1. tribulation, trial, suffering. 3. grief, anguish, woe, torment, desolation. See sorrow.

Antonyms
3. happiness.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To misery

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Misery is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Example Sentences

Nothing but time can cure the common cold, but a simple cup of salt water might ease the misery this winter.

The sporadic misery born of my love/hate relationship with my dissertation seems distant now.

But the newcomers and the flowers are not the only source of all this misery.

EXPAND

Nothing but time can cure the common cold, but a simple cup of salt water might ease the misery this winter.

The sporadic misery born of my love/hate relationship with my dissertation seems distant now.

But the newcomers and the flowers are not the only source of all this misery.

Clouds of insects-displaced from their habitat-added to the misery.

Measuring misery by one's bank account and tax return sometimes misses the point.

Back then, there was no one to witness either the misery or the bravery of this heroic band.

Enter your cubicle of misery by posting a photo below.

The sick man was a misery to himself and to everyone around him.

Botch a few of those decisions and you will come to know the true meaning of misery.

Food prices are causing misery and strife around the world.

Bringing clean water close to people's homes is key to reversing the cycle of misery.

Aside from sparing kids and parents the misery of illness, flu prevention saves money.

I'll say this-the designers did a good job conveying the special misery of a sick bird.

So it was basically an alternate way of profiting off of others' misery.

Debt forgiveness, even if it came, wouldn't relieve the misery of finding out that these were hollow promises.

The higher the score, the greater is the economic misery.

Funny how fast human misery turns into human opportunity.

Water storage systems can spare farmers the misery of crop failures.

First, it had to deal with political and economic misery.

Sometimes changing one small aspect of your work is enough to tip the scale in a direction away from misery.

The blessing of the monsoon always brings misery for some.

And no other drug has been more precious for pain control, though sometimes at high cost in addiction and misery.

Those of us who live in misery and are scorned by our fellow humans for being weak will not appreciate it.

It reinforces our loneliness and our wretched human misery.

Guilt, misery and despair have no place in the christian gospel, which is about setting man free from such things.

But the misery stretches well beyond the recession, as our charts above make clear.

There must be many million fatalities and untold misery from lack of affordable power, clean water and good jobs.

It's easy to think of the one god, the false god, as being evil because of the misery he causes humans and cylons.

Look for people who seem uncomfortable and put them out of their misery by starting a conversation.

For the left, government has failed to tame the cruelty of markets and lift the poor out of their misery.

Ehrlich is correct--but the timing of human misery incex is variable.

If the product's lousy, kill it and put it out of its misery.

But as the electorate gets more and more unsettled, the political volatility and misery is on his hands.

Your claim that religion is not the principal cause of wars, misery and mayhem is totally false.

Science, as it is practiced by callous zealots, consumes life in disregard of the misery it inflicts.

Enough star wars and air crafts, weapons, and misery.

People rightfully put animals out of their misery when they are at the end of their life.

Misery loves company, and no one in turn loves misery more than newbie filmmakers.

Your future misery will be infinitely greater than your present conception of misery.

But why does their dictatorship remain intact even with all the misery going.

But floods can bring misery and death to those who.

But, as studies show, abundant choice often makes for misery.

Buch's first novel is an attempt to give us an understanding of what brought about the misery of the black republic.

But even those patients lucky enough to receive a donor organ in time, and survive the transplant surgery, face more misery still.

Nono and his staff arrive and with their little motorcycles whisk us out of this male misery of green rags and sun-baked armory.

Notice all the misery resulting from foreclosure and unemployment is a political choice.

Little was mentioned of the current drought, which could yet trigger human misery on an enormous scale.

The euro zone is now threatened by a sovereign credit crunch nasty enough to plunge entire economies into misery.

So, let your trip guide me through the jungle of words and misery of thoughts from different origins.

It may sound a bit kooky, but it is both logical and realistic as well as avoiding misery and disappointment.

Leaderless, they watch helplessly, unsure how to stop the misery and suffering in the world.

Or else rear end someone and die, either of which would take me out of my misery.

The misery is actually greater than the headline number suggests:.

Drought, cold and snow are the proximate causes of this season's widespread misery.

Irish novelists are renowned for favouring misery over sparkling happiness.

They'd already experienced the misery of watching the disease kill many of the animals they knew and loved.

Workplace bullying is a big concern in academe and a source of much misery for some faculty members.

Most will take alternative routes, spreading the misery.

If they are particularly persistent buggers, a few saucers of stale beer will seduce them and end your misery once and for all.

Sakina, now taking a break from the first harvest of the year, recalls the early misery of her new home.

The misery in the jobs market tends to last far longer.

The misery they inflict seems to motivate cyber-stalkers.

Some fear that lawyers and other professionals are milking their misery.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

misery (ˈmɪzərɪ)

—n , pl -eries
1.	intense unhappiness, discomfort, or suffering; wretchedness
2.	a cause of such unhappiness, discomfort, etc
3.	squalid or poverty-stricken conditions
4.	informal (Brit) a person who is habitually depressed: he is such a misery
5.	dialect a pain or ailment

[C14: via Anglo-Norman from Latin miseria, from miser wretched]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

misery

late 14c., "condition of external unhappiness," from O.Fr. miserie (12c.), from L. miseria "wretchedness," from miser. Meaning "condition of one in great sorrow or mental distress" is from 1530s. Meaning "bodily pain" is 1825, Amer.Eng.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

misery

In addition to the idiom beginning with misery, also see put someone out of his or her misery.

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misery

mis·er·y