MISERABLY Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

miserably

adverb

Definition of miserably

as in dismally

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of miserably National Socialism failed miserably in Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist (Nazi) Germany. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2026 After Carlson officially flamed out, Brayden Narveson failed miserably. — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 That day helped solidify my decision to keep pushing forward after failing so miserably. — Kristine Fischer, Outdoor Life, 16 July 2026 The 2025 season ended miserably on all fronts for Johnson. — Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 10 June 2026 Otherwise, every one of the top draft picks Elias took from 2019-2022 – third baseman Gunnar Henderson, outfielder Colton Cowser, infielder Jackson Holliday, outfielder Heston Kjerstad and second baseman Jordan Westburg — has either underachieved or failed miserably. — Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 23 May 2026 One was to pressure Iran to fully open the strait and free 1,600 commercial ships stuck in the Persian Gulf, which failed miserably. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 11 May 2026 Furyk getting another go at things after already failing miserably signals the PGA has no idea how to even begin trying to turn things around. — Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026 This is about law enforcement who are doing their jobs and a suspect who tried to do something and failed miserably. — CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for miserably

Adverb

As Business Insider‘s Joshua Nelken-Zitser quickly discovered, ChatGPT for Teens is failing pretty dismally at its goals at launch.

— Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 19 Aug. 2026
But for now, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer remains at a dismally low 13%, according to the American Cancer Society.

— Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 12 May 2026

Definition of dismally

Adverb

The shattered standing forlornly by the podium at the end of a draining tournament, hearts broken, bodies exhausted, having to watch as the opposition receive the reward that England were agonisingly close to.

— Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 19 July 2026
Adaptations of the Odyssey are always fleshy affairs, with half-naked men lying happily or forlornly on beaches.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026

Definition of forlornly

Adverb

The movie’s strongest sequences provide the all-too-rare sensation of truly not being able to believe your eyes, as the film’s most fantastical elements feel distressingly real.

— Tiffany Kelly, Entertainment Weekly, 17 July 2026
The event was halted after an hour due to fears about her safety, which distressingly encapsulates a tension that the trans Mayan artist has navigated for years.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026

Definition of distressingly

Adverb

If exceeding delivery targets fails to spark a rally, meeting or slightly beating bottom-line earnings will likely be greeted glumly by Wall Street.

— Michael Khouw, CNBC, 20 July 2026
Three of the four arrived soberly dressed, one of them, Hodgkin, in a black suit, folded his arms and stared glumly ahead.

— Robin Muir, Vogue, 12 June 2026

Definition of glumly

Adverb

The mother laughed, which made the girl slouched sullenly on her Icelandic glance back, and her mother brushed a hand over her face.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2026
Take, for example, Keanu Reeves, who was memeified after a photo of the actor sullenly eating a sandwich went viral.

— Ben Pettis, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026

Definition of sullenly

Adverb

Museums abhor windows, so the building has all the approachability of a medieval keep, as gloomily defensive as the park is welcoming.

— Justin Davidson, Curbed, 4 June 2026
In Time Regained, the concluding volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, an older version of the narrator gloomily decides to attend a gathering at the Guermantes’ mansion.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026

Definition of gloomily

Adverb

The project uses horror and darkly comic genre elements to approach the psychological pressures of motherhood, extending Urban’s interest in personal experience as a route into broader social and political terrain.

— Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
On is a darkly comedic film exploring family, loneliness and the complicated ways people reconnect after years of emotional distance.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of darkly

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“Miserably.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/miserably. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of miserably

adverb

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