Misery
Name suggesting suffering
Misery is deep unhappiness or suffering—physical, emotional, or both.
A person in misery feels wretched: The divorce left him in complete misery.
Misery also names the cause of such suffering: the miseries of poverty.
A misery in British English can be a habitually gloomy person.
The phrase misery loves company suggests that unhappy people seek others who share their suffering.
Sustained experience of distress
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- despairTotal absence of hope
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- griefIntense sorrow from loss
torment · heartache · agony · woe · desolation · hopelessness · melancholy · wretchedness
Bodily or emotional distress
- discomfortMild physical or mental distress
- agonyExtreme physical or emotional pain
- achingExperiencing dull pain
- sorenessTender, painful sensation
cramping · throbbing · affliction · ailment · malaise · toothache · backache · chronic
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- privationLack of necessities
- wantTo desire something
indigence · penury · slum · hunger · deprivation · impoverishment · struggle · shantytown
Extremely unhappy or unfortunate
- DickensianGrimly poor, socially unjust
- lamentMournful expression of grief
- pathosPity-evoking quality
- tragicCausing great sorrow
bleak · woebegone · forlorn · Les Miserables · Oliver Twist · dirge · elegy · tragedy
One who dampens merriment
- grouchHabitually irritable person
- complainerOne who voices dissatisfaction
- sourpussHabitually sullen person
- wet blanketOne who discourages others
grump · curmudgeon · whiner · buzzkill · mope · grumbler · party pooper · Scrooge
suffering
Sustained experience of distress
grief · torment · heartache · agony · woe · desolation · hopelessness · melancholy · wretchedness · gloom
pain
Bodily or emotional distress
- discomfortMild physical or mental distress
- agonyExtreme physical or emotional pain
- achingExperiencing dull pain
soreness · cramping · throbbing · affliction · ailment · malaise · toothache · backache · chronic · inflammation
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- privationLack of necessities
want · indigence · penury · slum · hunger · deprivation · impoverishment · struggle · shantytown · favela
wretched
Extremely unhappy or unfortunate
- DickensianGrimly poor, socially unjust
- lamentMournful expression of grief
- pathosPity-evoking quality
tragic · bleak · woebegone · forlorn · Les Miserables · Oliver Twist · dirge · elegy · tragedy · catharsis
killjoy
One who dampens merriment
- grouchHabitually irritable person
- complainerOne who voices dissatisfaction
- sourpussHabitually sullen person
wet blanket · grump · curmudgeon · whiner · buzzkill · mope · grumbler · party pooper · Scrooge · malcontent
- Stephen KingCarrie, The Stand, The Shining, Pet Sematary, The Green Mile
- Adapted NovelsHarry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings
- Gwen Stefani SongsCool
- ChekhovAnton Chekhov, The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, playwright, Uncle Vanya
- thrillerssuspense, thriller, nail-biter, page-turner, cliffhanger
- American LiteratureThe Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Moby Dick
Miseryprosperity
Good fortune, success
wellbeing · flourishing · comfort · well-being · affluence
- put out of one's miseryKill to end suffering
- put someone out of their miseryEnd suffering through death
- fail miserably
- putting someone out of their miseryEnding suffering through death
- misery pornContent glorifying suffering
- misery gutsHabitually gloomy person
miserable, miserably, miseries, miser, miserly, miserliness, commiserate, commiseration