misery

将“misery”拆分为“mis”和“ery”，联想“mis”部分与“miss”相似，意味着“错过”、“缺少”，而“ery”则像“happy”的“-ppy”结尾，想象一个因为“缺少幸福”而感到“mis”的状态，即“misery”代表悲伤或痛苦。

misery 痛苦，悲惨

来自拉丁语miser,可怜的，可悲的，悲惨的。

misery

misery: [14] Latin miser meant ‘miserable, wretched’. From it were derived miseria ‘wretchedness’, source of English misery, and miserābilis ‘pitiable’, source of English miserable [16]. Fitting in with the general semantic pattern, English miser [16] (a direct nominalization of the Latin adjective) originally meant ‘wretched person’. But people who hoarded money were evidently viewed as being basically unhappy, and so right from the beginning miser was used for an ‘avaricious person’.
=> miser

misery (n.)

late 14c., "condition of external unhappiness," from Old French misere "miserable situation, misfortune, distress" (12c.), from Latin miseria "wretchedness," from miser (see miser). Meaning "condition of one in great sorrow or mental distress" is from 1530s. Meaning "bodily pain" is 1825, American English.

1. They were sickened by the scenes of misery and degradation they found.

目睹困苦、潦倒的景象，他们感到心里极不舒服。

2. Their energies were focussed on the alleviation of the refugees' misery.

他们把精力集中在减轻难民们的苦难上。

3. All that money brought nothing but sadness and misery and tragedy.

那笔钱带来的只有伤心、痛苦和悲剧。

4. Why was I putting myself through all this misery?

我为什么要如此自找苦吃啊？

5. Her search for love has often caused her excruciating misery and loneliness.

她对爱情的寻觅常常给她带来极大的痛苦和孤独感。

【sorrow, agony, grief, anguish, torment, distress, misery, torture】
这组词都有“苦恼、痛苦”的意思，其区别是：
sorrow: 语气比grief弱，指因不幸、损失或失望等所产生的悲伤。
agony: 侧重指精神或身体痛苦的剧烈程度。
grief: 指由某种特殊处境或原因造成的强烈的感情上的苦恼与悲痛。
anguish: 指精神方面令人难以忍受的极度痛苦；用于身体时，多指局部或暂时的痛苦。
torment: 强调烦恼或痛苦的长期性。
distress: 多指因思想上的压力紧张、恐惧、忧虑等所引起的精神上的痛苦，也可指某种灾难带来的痛苦。
misery: 着重痛苦的可悲状态，多含不幸、可怜或悲哀的意味。
torture: 语气比toment强，指在精神或肉体上受到的折磨所产生的痛苦。