Miserably

How to spell miserably

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce miserably

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does miserably mean?

1. adverbIn a way that is extremely unhappy, uncomfortable, or of very poor quality.

Miserably in a sentence

• The team performed miserably in the second half and lost by twenty points.

• Soaked to the skin, he sat miserably on the platform waiting for the delayed train.

Where does miserably come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective miser, meaning 'wretched, unhappy, or pitiable'. From miser came miserari, 'to feel pity for', and the related adjective miserabilis, 'deserving of pity or lamentable'. English took the adjective miserable through Old French in the 1400s, and the adverb miserably was then formed in English by adding the ordinary -ly ending. The same miser root sits behind the English noun 'miser', the hoarder of money, though that wretchedness is now about meanness rather than general unhappiness, and behind the church plea 'miserere', meaning 'have mercy'. The spelling trap is the soft, unstressed middle: writers hear 'mizrably' and may drop the central vowel, but the form keeps miserable's stem before swapping the final -le for -ly.

How the word is built

• miser- (Latin miser: wretched)
• -able (able to be)
• -ly (adverb suffix)