unhappy

English

Etymology

un- +‎ happy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈhæpi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æpi

Adjective

unhappy (comparative unhappier, superlative unhappiest)

1. Not happy; sad.
   • (Can we date this quote?), John Gay, The Beggar's Opera

     A moment of time may make us unhappy forever.

2. Not satisfied; unsatisfied.

   An unhappy customer is unlikely to return to your shop.

3. (chiefly dated) Not lucky; unlucky.

   The doomed lovers must have been born under an unhappy star.

4. (chiefly dated) Not suitable; unsuitable.
   • (Can we date this quote by John Foxe and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The people, if they are not strangely bent
     Against our welfare, never will consent
     To this unhappy match, foreboding ill:
     What's it to us, if th' adverse nation will?

Synonyms

• (not happy): See Thesaurus:sad or Thesaurus:lamentable

Antonyms

• happy
• glad
• delighted
• exuberant
• joyous
• joyful

Translations

not happy; sad

• Armenian: դժբախտ (hy) (džbaxt)
• Bulgarian: нещастен (bg) (neštasten)
• Catalan: infeliç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不高興／不高兴, 不高兴 (bù gāoxìng), 不開心／不开心, 不开心 (bù kāixīn), 不愉快 (bù yúkuài), 傷心／伤心 (zh) (shāngxīn), 伤心 (zh) (shāngxīn)

• Cornish: moredhek
• Czech: nešťastný
• Danish: ulykkelig
• Esperanto: malfeliĉa
• Finnish: onneton (fi)
• French: malheureux (fr), triste (fr)
• Georgian: მწუხარე (mc̣uxare), სევდიანი (sevdiani), დარდიანი (dardiani), ნაღვლიანი (naɣvliani)
• German: unglücklich (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: μέλεος (méleos)

• Haitian Creole: malere
• Italian: triste (it), rattristato (it), mogio (it), abbacchiato (it), afflitto (it), avvilito (it), malinconico (it), mesto (it), infelice (it), egro (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ulykkelig

  Nynorsk: ulukkeleg, ulykkeleg

• Old English: wansǣliġ
• Pashto: غمجن (ps) (ğamjan), خپه (ps) (xapa), خواشينی (ps) (xwâšinay)
• Portuguese: infeliz (pt), triste (pt)
• Romanian: nefericit (ro)
• Russian: несча́стный (ru) (nesčástnyj), несчастли́вый (ru) (nesčastlívyj), гру́стный (ru) (grústnyj), печа́льный (ru) (pečálʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: несретан

  Roman: nesretan (sh)

• Slovak: nešťastný
• Spanish: infeliz (es)
• Swedish: olycklig (sv)
• Turkish: mutsuz (tr), üzgün (tr)

not satisfied; unsatisfied

• Armenian: դժգոհ (hy) (džgoh)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不滿意／不满意, 不满意 (bù mǎnyì)

• Danish: utilfreds (da)
• Finnish: tyytymätön (fi)
• French: mécontent (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Georgian: უკმაყოფილო (uḳmaq̇opilo)
• Italian: scontento (it), amareggiato (it), sconfortato (it), depresso (it), demoralizzato (it)
• Pashto: خپه (ps) (xapa)
• Romanian: nefericit (ro)
• Russian: недово́льный (ru) (nedovólʹnyj), неудовлетворённый (ru) (neudovletvorjónnyj)
• Slovak: nespokojný

not lucky; unlucky

• Armenian: դժբախտ (hy) (džbaxt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不幸運／不幸运, 不幸运 (bù xìngyùn), 倒霉 (zh) (dǎoméi)

• Danish: uheldig
• Finnish: epäonninen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Georgian: უიღბლო (uiɣblo), უბედო (ubedo), უხეირო (uxeiro), უბედური (ubeduri)
• Italian: sfortunato (it), sfigato (it), iellato
• Russian: неуда́чный (ru) (neudáčnyj)
• Slovak: nešťastný

not suitable; unsuitable

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不適宜／不适宜, 不适宜 (bù shìyí), 不適合／不适合, 不适合 (bù shìhé), 不適當／不适当, 不适当 (bù shìdàng)

• Danish: upassende
• Finnish: sopimaton (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Georgian: შეუფერებელი (šeuperebeli)
• Italian: inadatto (it), infelice (it)
• Russian: неподходя́щий (ru) (nepodxodjáščij)
• Slovak: nešťastný

Noun

unhappy (plural unhappies)

1. An individual who is not happy.
   • 1972, The New Yorker (volume 48, part 1, page 109)

     Leduc, as is true of many other unhappies, is largely a confessional writer: her subject is herself, and her gift is a driving, vivacious power that turns her incurable, inveterate unhappiness into a series of dramas […]