See Also: miserable(dictionary)
miserable(dictionary)

lief (iou) and miserable (oh)


lief (iou)



lief adjective, noun, & adverb. [li:f] Now arch. & dial.
[Old English leof = Old Frisian liaf, Old Saxon liob, liof (Dutch lief), Old High German liub, liup (German lieb), Old Norse ljufr, Gothic liufs, from Germanic, rel. to LEAVE noun1, LOVE noun.]
A. adjective.
Beloved, dear, agreeable, acceptable, precious. OE.
F. Sheridan I had as lief have let it alone. Tennyson I charge thee, quickly go again As thou Art lief and dear. E. Pound This most lief lady.
Not disagreeable; not unwilling. Freq. in lief or loath. OE.
R. W. Dixon Now hence must I..be I loth or lief.
Desirous, willing, glad. (Foll. by of, to do.) ME-E16.
B. noun. A beloved, a dear person; a friend, a sweetheart; a wife. Also (as a form of respectful address), sir, lord. OE-M17.
C. adverb. Gladly, willingly. ME.
A. E. Housman Where shall one halt to deliver This luggage I'd lief set down? C. Day He said..he would as lief go around in a wheelbarrow.
liefly adverb (a) beautifully; dearly, kindly; (b) rare willingly, gladly: OE.

miserable (oh)



[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Old French; Origin: Latin miserabilis, from miser; MISER]
extremely unhappy, for example because you feel lonely, cold, or badly treated
::I've been so miserable since Patrick left me.
::I spent the weekend feeling miserable .
::Janice looks really miserable .
::Why do you make yourself miserable by taking on too much work?
as miserable as sin BrE (=very miserable)
especially BrE always bad-tempered, dissatisfied, or complaining
::He's a miserable old devil.
[usually before noun] making you feel very unhappy, uncomfortable etc
::They endured hours of backbreaking work in miserable conditions.
::Mosquito bites can make life miserable .
miserable weather is cold and dull, with no sun shining
::It was a miserable grey day.
::two weeks of miserable weather
[only before noun] very small in amount, or very bad in quality
::I can hardly afford the rent on my miserable income.
::The team gave a miserable performance.
miserable failure
BrE a complete failure
::Her attempts to learn to drive had been a miserable failure.
-- miserably adv
::I failed miserably in my duty to protect her.