misère

See also: misere, Misere, and miserê

English

Alternative forms

• misere

Etymology

Borrowed from French misère. Doublet of misery.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈzɛə(ɹ)/, /miːˈzɛə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Noun

misère (plural misères)

1. (card games, whist and others) A bid to lose every trick, or the majority of tricks, with no trumps.

Adjective

misère (not comparable)

1. Played according to the reverse of the usual winning convention.

   A strategy in misère backgammon is to put six blots in a row.

2. In which a player unable to move wins.

Derived terms

• lay-down misère
• misère ouvert

See also

• miser

Anagrams

• Meiers, Meiser, Siemer, remise

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin miseria.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.zɛʁ/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /mi.zaɛ̯ʁ/

• Audio; “la misère”:

  (file)

Noun

misère f (plural misères)

1. misery
2. poverty

   Il a vécu pendant longtemps dans la misère.

   He lived in poverty for a long time.

Derived terms

• avoir de la misère
• chercher misère
• faire des misères
• misère noire
• salaire de misère

Descendants

• → German: Misere
• → Haitian Creole: mizè
• → Swedish: misär

Interjection

misère

1. dear me! dear Lord! oh boy! heavens! woe is me!

   Synonyms: seigneur, bon sang, bon Dieu

Further reading

• “misère”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• merise, remise, remisé