| Title | misery |
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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary mis·ery (plural -er·ies) DATE 14th century 1. a state of suffering and want that is the result of poverty or affliction 2. a circumstance, thing, or place that causes suffering or discomfort 3. a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress Synonyms: see distress English Etymology 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 1535. Meaning "bodily pain" is 1825, Amer.Eng.http://O.Fr Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 misery mis·ery / 5mizEri / noun(pl. -ies) 1. [U] great suffering of the mind or body 痛苦；悲惨 SYN distress :
Fame brought her nothing but misery. 名声只给她带来了痛苦。 2. [U] very poor living conditions 穷困；悲惨的生活 SYN poverty :
The vast majority of the population lives in utter misery. 这里的人绝大多数生活在极度贫困之中。 3. [C] something that causes great suffering of mind or body 不幸的事；痛苦的事: the miseries of unemployment 失业的痛苦 4. [C] (BrE, informal) a person who is always unhappy and complaining 老发牢骚的人；不痛快的人: Don't be such an old misery! 别老这么牢骚满腹了！ IDIOMS ▪ make sb's life a 'misery to behave in a way that makes sb else feel very unhappy 使别人遭殃；让人痛苦 ▪ put an animal, a bird, etc. out of its 'misery to kill a creature because it has an illness or injury that cannot be treated 将动物人工致死以结束其痛苦 ▪ put sb out of their 'misery (informal) to stop sb worrying by telling them sth that they are anxious to know (告知情况以)消除某人的忧虑: Put me out of my misery—did I pass or didn't I? 别再让我着急了——我及不及格？ Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English misery noun ADJ. abject, deep, extreme, great, real, sheer, untold This phobia can cause untold misery for the sufferer. | complete Her misery was made complete when she was separated from her children. | personal | human | economic the country's economic misery VERB + MISERY be full of, be wrapped (up) in, endure, feel, live in, sink into, suffer He was too wrapped in misery to reply. I sank deeper into my misery. men who suffer the misery of unemployment | bring (sb), cause (sb), create The money brought him nothing but misery. | add to, heap, prolong War has now added to the misery of these starving people. The giant-killers heaped more misery on the home team. | alleviate, ease, relieve ways to alleviate human misery | put sb/sth out of In the end we asked the vet to put the poor creature out of its misery (= kill it humanely). (humorous) Oh, put her out of her misery?tell her who won. | spare sb At least we were spared the misery of having to do it all again. | forget PREP. ~ of the sheer misery of homelessness PHRASES a feeling of misery, make sb's life a misery His constant criticism made her life a misery. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition n. Function: noun 1 a state of suffering and want that is the result of poverty or conditions beyond one's control FF1C;the poor learn to live with miseryFF1E; FF1C;the utter misery in which the flood victims survivedFF1E; Synonyms: unhappiness, woe, wretchedness Related Words: agony, anguish; despondency, grief, sorrow; desolation, squalor Contrasted Words: beatitude, blessedness, bliss, felicity, happiness; content, ease, satisfaction 2 Synonyms: DISTRESS , agony, dolor, passion, suffering Related Words: adversity, misfortune; dejection, depression, melancholy, sadness Antonyms: blessedness ||3 Synonyms: PAIN 1, ache, pang, stitch, throe, twingeWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: mountain misery mis·ery \ˈmiz(ə)rē, -ri\ noun (-es) Etymology: Middle English miserie, misere, from Middle French, from Latin miseria, from miser wretched, miserable + -ia -y 1. : a state of suffering and want that is the result of poverty or other external conditions < the flood brought misery to hundreds whom it made homeless > < living in overcrowded slums in conditions of great misery > 2. : a circumstance, thing, or place that causes suffering or discomfort : calamity , misfortune < primitive societies in process of disappearance are therefore usually full of maladjustments, miseries, and unsolved problems — A.L.Kroeber > < a thin misery of rain, chilling and spiteful — T.H.Jones > < it was a terrible country … tamarack swamps, and spruce thickets, and windfalls, and all kinds of misery — Henry van Dyke > 3. : a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress < had killed her father, cheated and shamed herself with a remorse horribly spurious, exchanged content for misery — Arnold Bennett > < had misery and loneliness in their eyes — Bruce Marshall > 4. dialect : pain , ache < had a misery in his back, it bothered him so much there were days when he couldn't ride — Ross Santee > 5. : a wretched person or animal < we want to see our weaned foals nice and round and solid, and we do not want to see any dull-coated, potbellied little miseries — Henry Wynmalen > 6. : misère Synonyms: see distress |
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