unhappy
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- sad, blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, downcast, melancholy, miserable, mournful, sorrowful
- unlucky, cursed, hapless, ill-fated, unfortunate, wretched

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Antonyms: happy

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English Thesaurus: sad, unhappy, homesick, down, gloomy, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

un‧hap‧py S3 /ʌnˈhæpi/ adjective (comparative unhappier, superlative unhappiest)
[Word Family: noun: happiness ≠ unhappiness; adverb: happily ≠ unhappily; adjective: happy ≠ unhappy]

1. not happy ⇒ sad:
If you’re so unhappy, why don’t you change jobs?
Leslie had an unhappy childhood.
an unhappy marriage
I was desperately unhappy.

REGISTER
In everyday English, people often say they feel down or fed up rather than unhappy:
The situation at home was making her feel very down.

2. feeling worried or annoyed because you do not like what is happening in a particular situation
unhappy about/at (doing) something
Dennis is unhappy about having to work on a Saturday.
unhappy with
We were all unhappy with the quality of the service.

3. formal an unhappy remark, situation etc is not suitable, lucky, or desirable Synonym : unfortunate:
an unhappy coincidence
—unhappiness noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

unhappy
adj.
VERBS be, feel, look, seem, sound | become, grow She grew more unhappy as the years went by.
make sb It makes me very unhappy to see you so miserable.
ADV. deeply, desperately, distinctly, dreadfully, extremely, most, really, terribly, very, wretchedly She is deeply unhappy. He described it as ‘a most unhappy and distressing case’.
entirely We felt entirely unhappy with the whole situation.
increasingly | a bit, a little, rather | clearly, obviously | equally He was equally unhappy with the alternative.
personally
PREP. about He sounded a bit unhappy about the extra work he had to do.
at She was very unhappy at the idea of staying in London.
with They were terribly unhappy with the arrangements.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

unhappy

feel unhappy
After a while I didn’t feel quite so unhappy.
look unhappy
Both his parents looked very unhappy.
seem unhappy
Did Bill seem unhappy to you?
very/deeply unhappy
The Government was deeply unhappy about criticism from the press.
desperately/terribly/dreadfully unhappy
It was the first time she had been away from home and she was desperately unhappy.
an unhappy childhood
Stevens had a unhappy childhood in Manchester.
an unhappy marriage
Her parents had had an unhappy marriage.
unhappy memories
Ruth tried to put these unhappy memories from her mind.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sad not happy:
She felt sad as she waved goodbye.
a sad and lonely figure
a sad face
a sad film
unhappy sad, especially for a long time – used about people and periods of time:
I was unhappy at school.
an unhappy childhood
He’s obviously a deeply unhappy person.
homesick [not before noun] sad because you are away from your home, family, and friends:
She sometimes felt homesick when she first arrived in Japan.
down [not before noun] informal feeling sad for a few hours or days, often for no reason:
Whenever I’m feeling down, I go out and buy myself some new clothes.
She’s been kind of down since that argument with Jack.
gloomy looking or sounding sad and without hope – used about people, places, and weather:
Why are you all looking so gloomy?
the gloomy immigration office
a gloomy afternoon in February
dejected/downcast looking sad and disappointed because something you hoped for did not happen:
‘I didn’t pass,’ he said, looking dejected.
a downcast expression
He was understandably downcast after the team’s loss.
mournful especially literary looking or sounding sad:
the dog’s big mournful eyes
the mournful sound of the church bell
a mournful expression
glum looking sad and disappointed:
Don’t look so glum! Maybe you’ll win next time.
They sat in glum silence.
wistful especially literary looking a little sad and thoughtful, because you wish that the situation was different:
She looked at him with a wistful smile.
miserable very sad, especially because you are lonely, cold, ill, or upset – used about people and periods of time:
I felt miserable and blamed myself for what had happened.
Her life was miserable.
I had a miserable time at college.
depressed very sad and without hope for a long time, because things are wrong in your life or because of a medical condition:
After his wife left him, he became depressed and refused to talk to anyone.
heartbroken extremely sad because of something that has happened to someone or something that you care about very much:
She was heartbroken when her dog died.
distressed/distraught very upset because of something bad that has happened, so that you cannot think clearly:
She was very distressed when he left her.
The boy’s hospital bed was surrounded by distraught relatives.
devastated [not before noun] extremely sad and shocked, because something very bad has happened:
The whole town was devastated by the tragedy.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲