misery
n. C / Un. a feeling of great sadness or physical pain. You use this to describe a situation where someone is very unhappy or suffering a lot.
n. a state of intense physical or mental distress and unhappiness. Often used to describe the collective suffering caused by poverty, war, or illness.
The cold weather caused the hikers great misery.
The refugees lived in absolute misery while waiting for the border to open during the winter months.
The novel explores the profound misery of the working class during the industrial revolution, focusing on the lack of sanitation and the grueling hours spent in the factories.
From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère and mizeria.
Uncountable when referring to the general state of suffering; countable when referring to specific instances of misfortune or unpleasant events.