1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. misery

Find the word definition

What is "misery"

Crossword clues for misery

misery
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
misery
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
untold misery
▪ The floods have caused untold misery to hundreds of homeowners.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
abject
▪ But for some, who didn't get the grades they hoped for, there's abject misery.
▪ For the first three years he endured abject misery.
human
▪ Equally it has to be acknowledged that misguided and failed protest has added to the sum of human misery.
▪ Organized psychiatry must publicly articulate our vision, positions and commitment to the amelioration of human misery.
▪ Along with social and economic instability, they are among the main sources of crisis, loss of life and human misery.
untold
▪ That had led to the war, and to untold misery before that, for several generations.
▪ It's a familiar scene that can cause workers untold misery and loss of self-confidence.
▪ Its regime - which Prince Philip believed would turn his sons into real men - had caused Charles untold misery and damage.
■ VERB
add
▪ To add to their misery, the flight was delayed when the plane had to land at Belfast because of bad weather.
▪ Spring Valley, 93 -- and mugginess added to the misery.
▪ In the last two, war has added to the misery.
▪ Many, it has emerged, will be uninsured or under-insured adding to the misery already suffered.
▪ Since none of us had packed for cold, this simply added to our misery.
bring
▪ Benefits for the many increasingly bring chances of misery for a few.
▪ The economist who gives the prime minister bad advice can bring misery and unemployment to the average family.
▪ Nothing would destroy her - least of all these totally inappropriate emotions for a man who had brought her nothing but misery.
▪ Satan is interested in bringing misery ... suffering ... pain ... and guilt into our lives.
cause
▪ It's a familiar scene that can cause workers untold misery and loss of self-confidence.
▪ Morris further believed that forcing anyone to be active during the contemplative phase, or vice versa, causes utter misery.
▪ The conduct struck at by the section may cause misery without being aimed at any particular victim.
▪ From the socialist perspective, these disparities cause misery, deep alienation, and pervasive conflict in the society.
▪ Its regime - which Prince Philip believed would turn his sons into real men - had caused Charles untold misery and damage.
▪ Lack of money causes misery, anxiety, early death: the cramping of personality, the limiting of human potential.
▪ As I got to know Russell I began to be angry at this woman who was still causing him misery.
live
▪ Read in studio A survey has revealed that pressure of work at Oxford university is making students lives a misery.
make
▪ Read in studio A survey has revealed that pressure of work at Oxford university is making students lives a misery.
▪ But you have nothing to lose - your life was being made a misery anyway.
▪ People living near the site say that during last years festival their lives were made a misery.
▪ Next day they were off again, leaving the wounded and rejected to make life a misery for their womenfolk.
▪ She will make my misery more tolerable, my slavery only half-slavery, my exile less a banishment.
▪ In Dinny's code, if you beat some one in a fight you made their life misery for as long as possible.
▪ She really was making his life a misery.
▪ Please help little Jenny At last there's hope for the many hundreds of children whose lives are made a misery by birthmarks.
put
▪ Brian, put us out of our misery.
▪ No wonder calls are growing for the show to be put out of its misery once and for all.
▪ This became worse and worse and eventually he had to be put out of his misery.
▪ He was killing himself with laughing, but dashed over to the security man and put Kenny out of his misery.
▪ Listeners were finally put out of their misery just before midday when broadcasters finally admitted to the April Fool.
▪ Oh, come on, Robyn, put me out of my misery.
▪ Needing 219 on a poor pitch, Wasim put them out of their misery 15 overs ahead of schedule.
▪ I'd have gone against Maria Luisa and broken my vow of silence to put you out of your misery.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
abject poverty/misery/failure etc
▪ A central reason cited for the cutback was the abject failure of highly touted sports movies.
▪ But for some, who didn't get the grades they hoped for, there's abject misery.
▪ For the first three years he endured abject misery.
▪ Its strategy was an abject failure on its own terms, for the Gaullists romped home in the June elections.
▪ The parasite has been nurtured by abject poverty, intermittent political chaos and, some charge, international indifference.
▪ The Sisters also try never to reject anyone in abject poverty, the hungry or starving.
▪ Wealth was much more frequent than abject poverty.
▪ What these hopefuls achieved for their pleasure and pain was a violent lifestyle of abject poverty.
plumb the depths (of despair/misery/bad taste etc)
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Don't invite her. She's such a misery!
▪ He talked openly about the misery of his marriage.
▪ It started with a sore throat and became a week of total misery.
▪ Stop grumbling, you old misery.
▪ The high interest rates caused misery for millions of people.
▪ We cannot ignore the misery of the people in this country who are forced to live on the streets.
▪ You're just bringing all this misery on yourself.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Being paid was sheer misery for many.
▪ I was tagging along, comforting a man in misery until he started teaching.
▪ Morris further believed that forcing anyone to be active during the contemplative phase, or vice versa, causes utter misery.
▪ Some children spent their entire schooldays in unrelieved misery.
▪ The flight from the countryside has compounded the misery of the urban poor, traditionally the bedrock of Sandinista support.
▪ The second half brought more misery.
▪ The shattering plate might as well have struck him, for the pain and the misery on his face.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Misery

Misery \Mi"ser*y\, n.; pl. Miseries. [OE. miserie, L. miseria, fr. miser wretched: cf. F. mis[`e]re, OF. also, miserie.]

  1. Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
    --Chaucer.

    Destruction and misery are in their ways.
    --Rom. iii. 16.

  2. Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune.

    When we our betters see bearing our woes, We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
    --Shak.

  3. Covetousness; niggardliness; avarice. [Obs.]

    Syn: Wretchedness; torture; agony; torment; anguish; distress; calamity; misfortune.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
misery

late 14c., "condition of external unhappiness," from Old French misere "miserable situation, misfortune, distress" (12c.), from Latin miseria "wretchedness," from miser (see miser). Meaning "condition of one in great sorrow or mental distress" is from 1530s. Meaning "bodily pain" is 1825, American English.

Wiktionary
misery

n. 1 Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe. 2 Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune. 3 (extreme) poverty. 4 (cx archaic English) greed; avarice.

Related phrases:
WordNet
misery

  1. n. a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune; "the misery and wretchedness of those slums is intolerable" [syn: wretchedness]

  2. a feeling of intense unhappiness; "she was exhausted by her misery and grief"

Wikipedia
Misery (novel)

Misery is a 1987 psychological horror novel by Stephen King. This novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1988, and was later made into a Hollywood film and an off-Broadway play of the same name. When King was writing Misery in 1985 he planned the book to be released under the pseudonym Richard Bachman but the identity of the pseudonym was discovered before the release of the book.

The novel focuses on Paul Sheldon, a writer famous for Victorian-era romance novels involving the character of Misery Chastain. One day he is rescued from a car crash by crazed fan Annie Wilkes, who transports him to her house and, once finding out what he has done to Misery in his latest book, forces him to write a new book modifying the story – no matter what it takes.

Misery (Beatles song)

"Misery" is a song performed by English rock band the Beatles on their album Please Please Me. It was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to Lennon, "It was kind of a John song more than a Paul song, but it was written together." McCartney was to say: "I don't think either one of us dominated on that one, it was just a hacking job."

A 1963 single by Kenny Lynch made "Misery" the first Beatles' song to be covered by another artist.

Misery

Misery is a feeling of great unhappiness, suffering and/or pain.

Misery may also refer to:

Misery (film)

Misery is a 1990 American psychological thriller film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name and starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, and Frances Sternhagen about a psychotic fan who holds an author captive and forces him to write her stories.

Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Bates's performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes, and Bates won the 1990 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role, making Misery, as of 2016, the only Stephen King adaptation to be an Oscar-winning film. A scene in the film was ranked #12 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

Misery (hide song)

"Misery" is the fifth single by Japanese musician hide, released on June 24, 1996. It reached number 3 on the Oricon chart. On May 2, 2007, the single was re-released with a slightly different cover. On August 4, 2010, it was re-released again as part of the second releases in "The Devolution Project", which was a release of hide's original eleven singles on picture disc vinyl.

Misery (band)

Misery was a death metal band from Brisbane, Australia. Since forming in 1991, the band has released four albums and an EP. The band split in 2005, but has reformed once more for an East Coast Australian tour in support of its final album On Demon Wings in 2009.

Misery (Good Charlotte song)

Misery is the fourth single by American rock band Good Charlotte from their fourth album, Good Morning Revival (2007). The song was released as a single worldwide except for in North America where " Where Would We Be Now" was released as a single instead. A music video was not released.

Misery (Maroon 5 song)

"Misery" is a song by American band Maroon 5. It was released on June 22, 2010 by A&M Octone Records via the iTunes Store. The song was released in advance of the band's mid-2010 tour, and is the first single from their third studio album, Hands All Over, which was released on September 21, 2010.

Misery (EP)

Misery is the fifth EP by Canadian grindcore band Fuck the Facts. The EP was released on October 10, 2011, in conjunction with their album Die Miserable. The EP is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies on CD, 100 cassettes, and is also available as a digital download.

Misery (Soul Asylum song)

"Misery" is a 1995 song performed by the Minneapolis rock band Soul Asylum. Although Let Your Dim Light Shine critically suffered in comparison to its predecessor, Grave Dancers Union, the single, "Misery", reached number 20 on The Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US. The song featured prominently in Kevin Smith's 2006 movie Clerks II and on an episode of the TV show Hindsight. It was also parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Syndicated Inc." on his album Bad Hair Day. The B side on the single is Hope, a cover song from The Descendents' first album Milo Goes to College (1982).

Misery (Gwen Stefani song)

"Misery" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani, taken from her third studio album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like. While originally intended to be released as the album's second single, Interscope Records released it as a promotional single on March 11, 2016, before Stefani revealed on Instagram that it is the album's third single. It was serviced to hot adult contemporary radio on May 23, 2016. The electropop track was written by Stefani, Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, Mattias Larsson, and Robin Fredriksson, while production was handled by Mattman & Robin.

Lyrically, "Misery" discusses getting over a past lover, while accepting a new one. Many critics felt that the song was inspired by her relationships with Gavin Rossdale and Blake Shelton, and Stefani confirmed in an interview that "Misery" was written about the latter. Upon release, "Misery" received highly positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song for being "addictive" and "catchy". However, some critics were confused over who the song was written about. A lyric video for the song was uploaded to Stefani's Vevo account on March 10, 2016 and featured hand-drawn illustrations created by Stefani; the song's official video debuted on May 31 and displayed Stefani in various dresses and outfits.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "misery".

I put the bowl with mangoes, apples, vinegar, sugar, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, raisins, allspice, carrots and cloves into the fridge, to let it all sit, and soak and mingle and swell with misery.

Who that has glowed over this exalted picture will tell us that we must make Virtue prosperous in order to allure to it, or clothe Vice with misery in order to revolt us from its image?

The prospect of immediate relief and of future protection allured into its hospitable bosom many of those unhappy persons whom the neglect of the world would have abandoned to the miseries of want, of sickness, and of old age.

The overloaded appetite loathes even the honeycomb, and it is scarce a wonder that the knight, mortified and harassed with misfortunes and abasement, became something impatient of hearing his misery made, at every turn, the ground of proverbs and apothegms, however just and apposite.

What Ibn Battuta had written of its miseries and perils in 1350 would remain as true in 1650 or 1850.

The cold was climbing up his legs, and his breeches were misery to wear: wet and clinging and clammy, and liberally beslimed with mud and unidentifiable swamp-muck.

In his misery, Boots caught sight of Cathy and Diane crouched on the top step.

The permanent idleness of a human being is not only burthensome to the world, but his own secure misery.

The I understanding the cause of his miserable estate, sayd unto him, In faith thou art worthy to sustaine the most extreame misery and calamity, which hast defiled and maculated thyne owne body, forsaken thy wife traitorously, and dishonoured thy children, parents, and friends, for the love of a vile harlot and old strumpet.

As he watched the workings of her lips, the helpless misery in her young eyes, the endeavour for self-command and the struggles of womanly pride, Mallard remembered how distinctly he had foreseen this in his past hours of anguish.

Jihad raged in the name of her son Manion, Serena had withdrawn here to recover from her misery.

When Maron turned back to him, she saw that he was staring into space, an expression of glum misery on his face.

There was less doubt about his religious vocation, and when by help of his princely inheritance he turned his mind to the difficult task of reforming vice and ministering to the lowest aspects of misery in the slums of Rome, society said he had turned Socialist.

The one pillar of its chapter house had given way, and the downrushing ruin had so crushed and distorted it, that thenceforth until some resurrection should arrive, disorder and misshape must appear to it the law of the universe, and loveliness but the passing dream of a brain glad to deceive its own misery, and so to fancy it had received from above what it had itself generated of its own poverty from below.

Nadir of misery: the aged impotent disfranchised ratesupported moribund lunatic pauper.