Meanings
plural unhappinesses
- countableuncountableThe feeling of not being happy.
While there may be some truth in the Anna Karenina principle that all happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, we increasingly have a better understanding of what makes for unhappiness and stress in the workplace.
2011 July 15, Cary L Cooper, Stephen Wood, “Happiness at work: why it counts”, in The GuardianSynonyms: melancholy, misery, blueness, tristesse, mirthlessness, blues, crestfallenness, dejection
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe feeling of not being happy.
More synonyms by meaning
nounstate characterized by emotions ranging from mild discontentment to deep grief
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From unhappy + -ness or un- + happiness.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian нещастие
- нещастие (neštastie)feeling of not being happy
Catalan infelicitat
- infelicitatfeeling of not being happy
Czech neštěstí
- neštěstífeeling of not being happy
Dutch ongelukkigheid
- ongelukkigheidfeeling of not being happy
Esperanto malfeliĉo, malfeliĉeco
- malfeliĉofeeling of not being happy
- malfeliĉecofeeling of not being happy
Finnish ilottomuus
- ilottomuusfeeling of not being happy
French tristesse, malheur
- tristessefeeling of not being happy
- malheurfeeling of not being happy
- infélicitéfeeling of not being happy
German Traurigkeit, Unglück
- Traurigkeitfeeling of not being happy
- Unglückfeeling of not being happy
Greek δυστυχία
- δυστυχία (dystychía)feeling of not being happy
Hungarian boldogtalanság
- boldogtalanságfeeling of not being happy
Irish anaoibhneas
- anaoibhneasfeeling of not being happy
Italian infelicità
- infelicitàfeeling of not being happy
Japanese 不幸
- 不幸 (fukō)feeling of not being happy
Polish nieszczęście
- nieszczęściefeeling of not being happy
Portuguese infelicidade
- infelicidadefeeling of not being happy
Romanian nefericire
- nefericirefeeling of not being happy
Russian несча́стье
- несча́стье (nesčástʹje)feeling of not being happy
Slovak nešťastie, trápenie
- nešťastiefeeling of not being happy
- trápeniefeeling of not being happy
Spanish infelicidad
- infelicidadfeeling of not being happy
Swedish olycka
- olyckafeeling of not being happy
Turkish mutsuzluk
- mutsuzlukfeeling of not being happy
Welsh anhapusrwydd
- anhapusrwyddfeeling of not being happy
Cite this entry
unhappiness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unhappiness
“unhappiness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unhappiness. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unhappiness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unhappiness.
Source: unhappiness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.