Unhappy

Definition: Unhappy

Unhappy

Adjective

1. Experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent; "unhappy over her departure"; "unhappy with her raise"; "after the argument they lapsed into an unhappy silence"; "had an unhappy time at school"; "the unhappy (or sad) news"; "he looks so sad".

2. Generalized feeling of distress.

3. Causing discomfort; "the unhappy truth".

4. Marked by or producing unhappiness; "infelicitous circumstances"; "unhappy caravans, straggling afoot through swamps and canebrakes"- American Guide Series.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "unhappy" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Synonyms: Unhappy

Adversity

Adjective: unfortunate, unblest, unhappy, unlucky; improsperous, unprosperous; hoodooed; luckless, hapless; out of luck; in trouble, in a bad way, in an evil plight; under a cloud; clouded; ill off, badly off; in adverse circumstances; poor; behindhand, down in the world, decayed, undone; on the road to ruin, on its last legs, on the wane; in one's utmost need.

Dejection

Adjective: cheerless, joyless, spiritless; uncheerful, uncheery; unlively; unhappy; melancholy, dismal, somber, dark, gloomy, triste, clouded, murky, lowering, frowning, lugubrious, funereal, mournful, lamentable, dreadful.

Pain

Unhappy, infelicitous, poor, wretched, miserable, woe-begone; cheerless; (dejected); careworn.

Sadden; make unhappy; plunge into sorrow, grieve, fash, afflict, distress; cut up, cut to the heart.

Crosswords: Unhappy

not to be unhappy (While You Were Sleeping; writing credit: Daniel G. Sullivan; Fredric LeBow)

And I'd make you most unhappy, most (The Philadelphia Story; writing credit: Donald Ogden Stewart)

No. But I'm feeling very unhappy! (Stuart Little 2; writing credit: E.B. White; Douglas Wick)

Why do they all look like unhappy rabbits (All About Eve; writing credit: Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

I eat because I'm unhappy, I'm unhappy because I eat. (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; writing credit: Mike Myers)

Now you look so unhappy, and I feel like a fool ("It's Too Late"; performing artist: Carole King)

Don't be unhappy, can't remember (True Colors; performing artist: Cyndi Lauper)

I'm unhappy so if you love me, (A Little Bit; performing artist: Jessica Simpson)

There's no need to be unhappy ("Y.M.C.A."; performing artist: The Village People)

I'd rather be alone than unhappy (It's not right,but it's okay; performing artist: Whitney Houston)

It is not your position that makes you happy or unhappy, it's your disposition. (references; author: unknown)

Your thoughts can cause you to be rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy, attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak. (references; author: unknown)

Unhappy Birthday (1967)

An Unhappy Finish (1921)

The Unhappy Pair (1913)

He Was Not Ill Only Unhappy (1913)

Revenge of the Unhappy Campers (2002)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Being Happy in an Unhappy World (reference)

• One Unhappy Horse (reference)

• The Formula: Who Gets Sick, Who Gets Well, Who Is Happy, Who Is Unhappy, and Why (reference)

• Unhappy Children: Reasons and Remedies (reference)

• Unhappy Kashmir: The Hidden Story (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Sleepaway Camp II - Unhappy Campers (reference)

• Making Unhappy Customers Love (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Unhappy Hour With... (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Weighing an unhappy spotted seal - Phoca largha. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).

... onchocerciasis is a reality that leaves an unhappy legacy of damaged or destroyed eyesight. / WHO p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by R.C. da Silva..

The Body Politic on the March of Intellect, : To the Tune of Let us all be unhappy together. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

WARNING : "If You Abuse Me Then I Would Make You Unhappy". Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Five knights' helmets, unhappy to happy. Credit: Library of Congress.

Unhappy sparrow on branch with two courting sparrows. Credit: Library of Congress.

Unhappy West; uncertain East. Credit: Library of Congress.

High above, over a true "home of the brave," the floating folds of the Star Spangled Banner symbolize the American way of life to soldiers in training for the battles that will bring freedom to an unhappy, wartorn world, Fort Knox, Ky. Credit: Library of Congress.

Unhappy position of a loyal gentleman taking his bath while an amateur orchestra is practising "God save the King" in an adjoining room. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

It made him so very unhappy, indeed, that it could not be persevered in.

The case of this unhappy man might be my own.

The planet has - or rather had- a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time

Unhappy is he who surrenders himself to the changing heart of woman

And I hated my mother and father for making him so unhappy. Even if they were right, I still hated them

Even so, children eating their fried dough smelled the warming beans and were unhappy about it.

He said they saw my stick and handkerchief thrust out of the hole, and concluded that some unhappy men must be shut up in the cavity

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

The clinical picture is one of a very unhappy colicky child who may not sleep well at night. (references)

Business

The Chilean customer is beginning to become aware of "consumer rights", and it is more common that unhappy clients report irregular situations, unsatisfactory service, defective products, and deceptive propaganda to SERNAC, Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (National Consumer Service). (references)

Economic History

Kenya

The drought, coupled with disgruntled farmers unhappy with poor government policies, led to a drastic grain production decline. (references)

Uruguay

Some U.S. industry groups are unhappy with the law, believing that its compulsory licensing requirements are not TRIPs consistent. (references)

Sweden

In a poll taken in May 1997, however, many Swedes indicated that they were unhappy with Sweden's membership in the EU, and, if given the choice, would not join the EU again. (references)

Political Economy

URUGUAY

U.S. pharmaceutical industry representatives are unhappy with the law, believing that its compulsory licensing requirements are not TRIPS consistent. (references)

Political Rights

Ghana

In many cases, the protesters were NPP youth activists unhappy with allegedly disloyal nominees. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "unhappy": desperately unhappy ♦ unhappy choice ♦ unhappy marriage. Additional references.

Beginning with "unhappy": unhappy-looking.

Afrikaans

ongelukkig (unfortunately). (various references)

Albanian

fatkeq (calamitous, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-omened, miserable, unfortunate, unlucky, washout, wretched). (various references)

Arabic 

‏غير مشجع, ‏حزين (afflicted, cheerless, dejected, depressed, doleful, dolorous, downcast, drear, dreary, lamentable, lugubrious, melancholic, miserable, mournful, pathetic, plaintive, rueful, sad, sore, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, wailful, weary, wistful, woeful), ‏تعيس (miserable, poor thing, unfortunate, wretched), ‏أخرق (awkward, bungling, clumsy, elephantine, gauche, gawky, impolitic, left handed, lubberly, lump, mad, maladroit, meaningless, nincompoop, oafish, ponderous, preposterous, senseless, shy, uncouth, ungainly, wooden), ‏شقي (brat, evil doer, rogue, wretched, yob), ‏بغيض (abominable, accursed, antipathetic, beastly, blasted, cursed, damned, detestable, distasteful, dreadful, forbidding, frightful, hateful, horrid, impossible, nasty, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, out of favor, out of favour, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, sticky, ungrateful, unlikely, unpalatable, unpleasant, unsavory, unsavoury, unwelcome, villainous), ‏بائس (afflicted, cheerless, deplorable, desolate, devil, disconsolate, distressed, forlorn, godforsaken, hapless, heel, helpless, lamentable, measly, miserable, paltry, pathetic, penurious, piteous, pitiful, poor, poverty stricken, ratty, sad, scruffy, seedy, sickly, sordid, squalid, unfortunate, woeful, wretched). (various references)

Bulgarian 

неудачен (infelicitous, irrelevant, untoward), несполучлив (dud, fortuneless, ineffectual, unfortunate), нещастен (abject, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, lack-all, lorn, poor, sick, unblessed, unchancy, unfortunate, unlucky, woeful, wretched), нетактичен (clumsy, gauche, indelicate, indiscreet, maladroit, rude, tactless, tasteless, undiplomatic, untactful), злочест (hapless, ill fated, miserable, star-crossed, unfortunate, woebegone, wretched). (various references)

Chinese 

葸 (feel insecure), 怏怏不乐. (various references)

Czech

znepokojený (anxious, apprehensive, concerned, upset, worried), smutný (dismal, distressing, doleful, elegiac, gloomy, miserable, plaintive, sad, sorrowful, tearful, upset, woeful, woesome), sklíèený (blue, crest-fallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, downhearted, gloomy, glum, lower-spirited, low-spirited, mopish, stricken), politováníhodný (deplorable, lamentable, pitiable, regrettable), pohnutý (chequered, emotional, eventful), nespokojený (disaffected, discontented, disgruntled, displeasing, dissatisfactory, dissatisfied, malcontent, non-content, uncontented, unfulfilled, unsatisfied), nešťastný. (various references)

Danish

ulykkelig. (various references)

Dutch

ongelukkig. (various references)

Esperanto

malfeliĉa. (various references)

Farsi 

نامراد, ناکام , شوربخت , بداقبال , بدبخت (Gray, Infelicitous, Miserable, Sorry, Unblessed, Unblest, Unfortunate, Woeful, Wretch, Wretched). (various references)

Finnish

onneton (unfortunate, unlucky). (various references)

French

malheureux (unfortunate, unlucky). (various references)

German

unzufrieden (disaffected, discontent, discontented, displeased, dissatisfied, malcontent, malcontently, uncontent, unsatisfied), unglücklich (hapless, ill fated, inauspicious, infelicitous, miserable, miserably, sad, unfortunate, unfortunately, unhappily, unjoyous, unluckily, unlucky, unrequited, unsuccessful, untoward). (various references)

Greek 

ατυχήσ (hapless, infelicitous, unfortunate), δυστυχισμένος (miserable), δυστυχήσ. (various references)

Hawaiian

fatkeq. (various references)

Hebrew 

עצוב (design, downhearted, fashioning, formation, forming, formulation, lugubrious, modeling, molding, morose, sad, shaping, sorrowful, sullen, woeful), אמל (anamel, unfortunate), אומלל (disconsolate, feeble, hapless, miserable, poor, unfortunate, wretched). (various references)

Hungarian

boldogtalan (hapless, infelicitous, miserable, wretched). (various references)

Icelandic

óhamingjusamur. (various references)

Indonesian

tak berbahagia, merongseng (discontented, gripe, grumble). (various references)

Italian

infelice (accidental, forlorn, haplessly, infelicitous, lovelorn, miserable, unlucky, wretched). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

愁い (gloomy, sad). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

うい (gloomy, perpetual change caused by karma, sad, that which is made, vicissitudes of life), うれい (distress, gloomy, grief, sad, sorrow), アンハッ�"ー . (various references)

Korean 

불행한. (various references)

Manx

neuvaynrey (miserable, sad), meevaynrey (dismal, infelicitous, miserable), douyr (afflicting, mournful, uncomfortable). (various references)

Norwegian

ulykkelig (desolate). (various references)

Papiamen

infelis. (various references)

Pig Latin

appyunhay.(various references)

Portuguese

infeliz (devoted, disastrous, evil, hapless, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, jonah, luckless, sorrowful, unblessed, unfortunate, unluckily, unlucky, unsuccessful, wretch, wretched). (various references)

Romanian

trist (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, darkish, depressing, dispirited, doleful, dolefully, dolorous, downcast, drab, dreary, dull, dumpish, elegiac, glum, joyless, lamenting, maudlin, melancholy, miserable, mournful, mournfully, pensive, pensively, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, splenetic, sullen, tough, unfortunate, woebegone, woeful), regretabil (deplorable, grievous, lamentable, lamenting, regrettable, sad, unfortunate, wretched), nenorocos (hapless, ill, ill fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, unfortunate, unlucky), nenorocit (abject, baleful, disastrous, forlorn, grievous, grub, hapless, lame duck, mean, measly, miser, miserable, pilgarlic, rascal, rotten, sad, scullion, unfortunate, wretch, wretched), nefericit (ill fated, infelicitous, miserable, unfortunate, unlucky, wretch, wretched), ghinionist (failure, lame duck, luckless, unfortunate, unlucky, unlucky man), amãrât (downcast, down-hearted, embittered, long-faced, mumper, poor man, sadly, sorry, wretch). (various references)

Russian 

несчастный (desolate, disconsolate, hapless, hard, infelicitous, lack-all, lorn, miserable, pitiable, poor, sorry, star-crossed, unblessed, unfortunate, woeful, wretch, wretched), несчастливый (ill fated, ill-fated, infelicitous, luckless, unfortunate, unlucky), неудачный;несчастливый. (various references)

Scottish

truagh (I pity, miserable, unhappy : is truagh leam, wretched). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

tužan (disappointing, dismal, distressed, distressful, distressing, doleful, dumpish, elegiac, funereal, grievous, joyless, lamentable, lugubrious, mirthless, plaintive, sad, tearful, wailful, woeful, woesome), potišten (chap-fallen, crestfallen, crest-fallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, dispirited, down in the mouth, down-hearted, hangdog, heavy-laden, moody, mopish), nezadovoljan (disaffected, discontented, disgruntled, displeased, dissatisfied, malcontent, uncontented, unsatisfied), nesretan (distressful, distressing, hapless, unfortunate), nesrećan (calamitous, down in the mouth, fortuneless, graceless, inauspicious, infelicitous, miserable, unchancy, unfortunate, unlucky), neprikladan (inappropriate, indecorous, infelicitous, suit: not suited to, unapt, unbecoming, unbeseeming, undue, unseemly, unsuitable), koban (calamitous, deathly, dire, fatal, fateful, malign, portentous). (various references)

Spanish

infeliz (infelicitous, unfortunate, unlucky, unsuccessful, wretch, wretched), triste (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, depressing, dismal, doleful, dolorous, drear, dreary, gaunt, gloomy, glum, heavy, hipped, joyless, joylessly, mirthless, miserable, mournful, rueful, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorry, sullen). (various references)

Swedish

olycklig (afflicted, distressed, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, unfortunate, unlucky, untoward, wretched). (various references)

Turkish

yersiz (Amiss, baseless, beside the point, digressive, discursive, idle, ill timed, impertinent, improper, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incongruous, indecent, indiscreet, inept, inexpedient, infelicitous, injudicious, inopportune, irrelevant, malapropos, out of place, out of turn, uncalled for, uncomely, undue, unjustifiable, unseasonable, untimely, untoward, unwarranted), mutsuz (infelicitous, joyless, unfortunate, woebegone), münasebetsiz (gauche, impertinent, improper, inapposite, incorrect, inexpedient, inopportune, malapropos, near the knuckle, unseemly, untimely), kederli (broken hearted, chapfallen, dejected, depressed, dismal, doleful, dolorous, drear, dreary, heartsick, heartsore, heavy-hearted, low-spirited, mournful, pained, rueful, sick at heart, sorrowful, woeful), bedbaht (grief-stricken), şanssız (distressed, down on one's luck, evil, fortuneless, hapless, ill fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, luckless, out of luck, star-crossed, unfortunate, unlucky, unsuccessful, untoward), aksi (adverse, awkward, bad tempered, bilious, bloody minded, cantankerous, contra, contra-, contrary, counter, crabbed, crabby, cross, cross-grained, crosspatch, crotchety, doggish, dour, evil, fractious, fretful, Froward, gruff, ill natured, ill tempered, ill-humored, ill-humoured, inverse, negatory, opposite, peevish, perverse, petulant, recalcitrant, refractory, reverse, shirty, snappish, snuffy, spleenful, spleenish, stroppy, stubborn, sullen, surly, tart, testy, unfavorable, unfavourable, unfortunate, unlucky, untoward, wrongheaded), üzgün (afflicted, aggrieved, bleak, careworn, chagrined, crestfallen, dejected, downcast, downhearted, glum, heartsick, heartsore, heavy-hearted, low-spirited, pained, regretful, rueful, sad, sick at heart, sorrowful, sorry, stricken, tearful, troubled, upset, worried). (various references)

Ukrainian

сумний (afflictive, baleful, cheerless, comfortless, damp, dark, deplorable, despondent, dismal, doleful, drear, dreary, dumpish, dumpy, elegiac, elegiacal, grievous, heavy-hearted, joyless, lamentable, lugubrious, maddening, melancholy, mournful, overcast, plaintive, regrettable, rueful, sad, sorrowful, wailful, wan), нещасливий (calamitous, hapless, hoodoo, ill fated, ill-starred, infelicitous, luckless, wanchancy), невдалий (abortive, awry, bad, failed, ineffectual, infelicitous, lame, nasty, naughty, unfortunate, unlucky, wide), недоречний (ill timed, ill-placed, impertinent, impolitic, inapposite, inappropriate, incongruous, inconsequent, inconsequential, irrelevant, mistaken, uncalled for). (various references)

Vietnamese 

rủi (baleful, ill-fated, unchancy, unlucky), khổ sở (miserable, woebegone), khốn khổ không may, không tốt (unfruitful, wrong), không hay (unaware, uninformed, uninteresting, unknowing, unlucky), không có hạnh phúc, bất hạnh (ill-fated, unblest). (various references)

Welsh

annedwydd (miserable), anhapus (unlucky). (various references)

infelices, infelix, infortunatus, miser, misera, miseram, miseri, miseris, misero, miseros, miserrima. (various references)

ahvâthre. (various references)

heardselig. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Misspellings

"Unhappy" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: unchippy. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: happy, nappy.

-3 letters: puna, puny, pupa, yaup, yuan.

-4 letters: any, hap, hay, hun, hup, hyp, nah, nap, nay, pah, pan, pap, pay, pun, pup, pya, yah, yap, yup.

-5 letters: ah, an, ay, ha, na, nu, pa, uh, un, up, ya.

+2 letters: unhappily.