Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmi.ze.ro/
- Rhymes: -izero
- Hyphenation: mì‧se‧ro
Etymology 1
From Latin miserum, of uncertain origin. Possibly a borrowing.
Adjective
misero (feminine misera, masculine plural miseri, feminine plural misere, superlative miserrimo)
- bleak, miserable, unhappy, wretched
1472, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno, Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto XVII, p. 257-258 vv. 109-110:né quando Icaro misero le reni ¶ sentì spennar per la scaldata cera, [...]- nor when the wretched Icarus his flanks ¶ felt stripped of feathers by the melting wax, [...]
- 1802, Ugo Foscolo, “A Luigia Pallavicini caduta da cavallo” (Scelte opere di Ugo Foscolo, Poligrafica Fiesolana, Firenze (1835), p. 22), vv. 76-78:
Scuote l’arcion, te misera ¶ su la pietrosa riva ¶ strascinando mal viva- It shakes the saddle, dragging ¶ you on the rocky shore, ¶ miserable and barely alive
- Synonyms: disgraziato, infelice, miserabile
- Antonyms: beato, felice, fortunato
- (by extension, of a person) destitute, indigent, poor
- Synonyms: bisognoso, indigente, povero
- Antonyms: abbiente, agiato, benestante
- (by extension, of a place) poor, underdeveloped
- Synonyms: depresso, povero, sottosviluppato
- Antonyms: fiorente, prospero, ricco
- inadequate, insufficient, meager
Un misero salario.- A meager salary.
- Synonyms: insufficiente, irrisorio, magro, scarso
- Antonyms: abbondante, cospicuo, lauto
- contemptible, despicable, miserable, sleazy
1472, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno, Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto III, p. 37-38 vv. 34-36:Ed elli a me: «Questo misero modo ¶ tegnon l'anime triste di coloro ¶ che visser sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo. [...]»- And he to me: «This miserable mode ¶ maintain the melancholy souls of those ¶ who lived withouten infamy or praise. [...]»
- Synonyms: abietto, ignobile, meschino, spregevole
- Antonym: nobile
- (archaic) avaricious, covetous, stingy, ungenerous
1353, Giovanni Boccaccio, Decamerone, Tommaso Hedlin, published 1527, page 250:[...] non ad ammaſſare denari, come i miſeri fanno, ma ad iſpender gli ammaſſati [...]- [...] not to amass money, like the avaricious do, but to spend that collected [...]
1532, Niccolò Machiavelli, Il Principe, published 1537, page 29:[...] miſero chiamiamo quello che troppo ſi aſtiene dallo vſar il ſuo.- it's called stingy he who excessively withholds his own [money].
- Synonyms: avaro, taccagno, tirchio
- Antonyms: generoso, munifico, prodigo
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
References
- “misero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- misero in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.