From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmiserablemis‧e‧ra‧ble /ˈmɪzərəbəl/ ●●● S3 W3 adjective 1 SAD/UNHAPPYextremely 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)► see thesaurus at sad2 SAD/UNHAPPY especially British English always bad-tempered, dissatisfied, or complaining He’s a miserable old devil.3 [usually before noun]SAD/UNHAPPY 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 weather5 [only before noun]LITTLE/NOT MUCH 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 —miserably adverb I failed miserably in my duty to protect her.
Examples from the Corpus
miserable• She appropriated slapstick and hyperbole to the delicious purpose of lampooning the fathead who made her life miserable.• Dana was in the other day and she looked miserable.• He sat all alone in his room, thoroughly miserable.• All the staff seemed to look miserable and the atmosphere was not at all pleasant.• The poor miserable animals were starving, dirty and wet.• Preston had a miserable childhood.• I wish this city would do something about the miserable condition of the roads.• The journey home was miserable. Everyone was depressed about losing the game.• Enraged, drunk, freezing and unutterably miserable I left to make the 200 mile trip home.• Jen has been stuck in a miserable job for the last two years.• Factory workers during the 18th century led miserable lives.• They made each other miserable, locking wills, disbelieving that the other party could long endure a war of emotional attrition.• There was only Sergeant-Chef Gibeau to make our lives miserable now.• All that work for this miserable paycheck!• She should have known better than to think he would bring it to her, miserable sinner that she was.• What I had seen of Czechoslovakia was a society which encouraged a miserable waste of human resources.• Wear your coat, or you'll get sick in this miserable weathermake ... miserable• Donnie Green types were traders who made trainees miserable.• Edna did not do these things to make us miserable.• For all I know, they lied and cheated and made their women miserable.• In doing that he makes himself miserable.• You shouldn't be surprised to hear that you've made people miserable.• What could they do, except be made miserable by impotence?• They made each other miserable, locking wills, disbelieving that the other party could long endure a war of emotional attrition.• There was only Sergeant-Chef Gibeau to make our lives miserable now.make life miserable• Mosquito bites can make life miserable.• While the Saints built their first temple, neighbors made life miserable and the Mormons neared bankruptcy.• The handful of traders who made life miserable for graduates of Harvard completely dominated a third of the bond market.Origin miserable (1400-1500) Old French Latin miserabilis, from miser; → MISER 