misery

/ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/

//ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"misery" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“misery” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,454 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,454
frequency rank, English
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

misery vs Mixer
50% similar
misery vs misty
67% similar
misery vs Missy
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for misery
PropertyValue
Headwordmisery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,454
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “misery” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). misery lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for misery is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,454 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for misery, with forms such as "imsery", "miesry", and "miserry". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "Mixer", "misty", "Missy", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère and mizeria. The correct English form is misery, spelled M-I-S-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
  2. 2
    A bodily ache or pain.
  3. 3
    Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune.
  4. 4
    poverty.
  5. 5
    greed; avarice.

Etymology

From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère and mizeria.

This word in other languages

miseria(Español)misère(Français)Misere(Deutsch)miséria(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: imsery,miesry,miserry,miseryy,miseyr,misrey,missery,mmisery,msiery

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of misery - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

imsery2miesry2miserry1miseryy1miseyr2misrey2missery1mmisery1
Edit distance from "misery"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "misery"?
"misery" is spelled M-I-S-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/.
What does "misery" mean?
As a noun, "misery" means: Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
What words are commonly confused with "misery"?
"misery" is commonly confused with "Mixer", "misty", "Missy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "misery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "misery" is /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "misery"?
From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère and mizeria. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “misery”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-I-S-E-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Mixer” - see the side-by-side comparison. misery vs Mixer
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list