misery

\ˈmɪz.ə.ɹi\

/\ˈmɪz.ə.ɹi\/ noun

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

The verdict

“misery” is uncommon French (frequency #66,116 among 202,672 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,116
frequency rank, French
202,672
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Misère.

Key facts for misery
PropertyValue
Headwordmisery
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈmɪz.ə.ɹi\
Letters6
Frequency rank#66,116
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “misery” sits in French 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.

Rare enough to double-check

misery is uncommon French at frequency #66,116 among 202,672 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈmɪz.ə.ɹi\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for misery in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is misery, spelled M-I-S-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Misère.
  2. 2
    Pénurie.

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 French 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.ɹi\.
What does "misery" mean?
As a noun, "misery" means: Misère.
How do you pronounce "misery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "misery" is \ˈmɪz.ə.ɹi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "misery" come from?
"misery" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 French spelling is M-I-S-E-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈmɪz.ə.ɹi\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

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