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mis·er·a·ble

(mĭzər-ə-bəl, mĭzrə-)

adj.

1. Very uncomfortable or unhappy; wretched.

2. Causing or accompanied by great discomfort or distress: a miserable climate.

3. Mean or shameful; contemptible: a miserable trick.

4. Wretchedly inadequate: lived in a miserable shack; fed the prisoners miserable rations.

5. Of poor quality; inferior: miserable handicraft.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin miserābilis, pitiable, from miserārī, to pity, from miser, wretched.]

miser·a·ble n.

miser·a·ble·ness n.

miser·a·bly adv.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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