ETYM Latin calamitas, akin to in-columis unharmed: cf. French calamité.
An event resulting in great loss and misfortune; SYN. catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm.

ETYM Latin destitutio a forsaking.
A state without friends or money or prospects.

ETYM French désastre; pref. dés- (Latin dis-) + astre star, from Latin astrum; a word of astrological origin. Related to Aster, Astral, Star.
An act that has disastrous consequences.

ETYM Old Eng. destresse, distresse, Old Fren. destresse, destrece, French détresse, Old Fren. destrecier to distress, (assumed) Late Lat. districtiare, from Latin districtus, p. p. of distringere. Related to Distrain, Stress.
(Irregular plural: distresses).
1. A strong feeling of anxiety; SYN. worry, trouble.
2. Psychological suffering; SYN. hurt, suffering.
3. The seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim; SYN. distraint.

1. The reverse of good; evil
2. Misfortune distress
3. Ailment sickness
4. Something that disturbs or afflicts; trouble; something that reflects unfavorably

ETYM Latin indigentia: cf. French indigence. Related to Indigent.
A state of extreme poverty or destitution; SYN. need, penury, pauperism; poverty; state of being needy.

ETYM Old Eng. miserie, Latin miseria, from miser wretched: cf. French misère, Old Fren. also, miserie.
1. A feeling of intense unhappiness.
2. A state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune; SYN. wretchedness.

ETYM Latin pestis: cf. French peste.
1. An epidemic disease associated with high mortality; specifically; plague.
2. Something resembling a pest in destructiveness; especially; a plant or animal detrimental to humans or human concerns (as agriculture or livestock production).
3. One that pesters or annoys; nuisance.
In biology, any insect, fungus, rodent, or other living organism that has a harmful effect on human beings, other than those that directly cause human diseases. Most pests damage crops or livestock, but the term also covers those that damage buildings, destroy food stores, and spread disease.
A persistently annoying person; SYN. blighter, cuss, pesterer, gadfly.

The quality or state of being squalid

Misery, woefulness, poverty; contemptibleness, meanness

ETYM Latin abjectus, p. p. of abjicere to throw away; ab + jacere to throw. Related to Jet a shooting forth.
1. Most unfortunate or miserable.
2. Of the most contemptible kind; SYN. low, low-down, miserable, scummy, scurvy.
3. Showing humiliation or submissiveness.
4. Showing utter resignation or hopelessness; SYN. resigned, unhopeful.
Humble; miserable; craven.

ETYM Old Eng. bar, bare, AS. baer; akin to Dutch and German baar, Old High Germ. par, Icel. berr, Swed. and Dan. bar, Old Slav. bosu barefoot, Lith. basas; cf. Skr. bhâs to shine.
(Homonym: bear).
1. Completely unclothed; SYN. au naturel, naked, nude.
2. Denuded of leaves.
3. Apart from anything else; without additions or modifications; SYN. mere, simple.
4. Having extraneous everything removed including contents; SYN. stripped.
5. Just barely adequate or within a lower limit; SYN. marginal.
6. Lacking a surface finish such as paint; SYN. unfinished.
7. Lacking in amplitude or quantity; SYN. scanty, spare.
8. Providing no shelter or sustenance; SYN. barren, bleak, desolate, stark.
9. Showing ground without the usual covering of grass.

1. Marked by poverty befitting a beggar; SYN. mean.
2. Used of sums of money; so small in amount as to deserve contempt; SYN. mean.

ETYM Abbrev. from: a good purchase or bargain; cf. French bon marché, à bon marché. Related to Cheap, Cheapen.
1. Embarrassingly stingy; SYN. chinchy, chintzy.
2. Relatively low in price or charging low prices; SYN. inexpensive.

Crummy.

ETYM Cf. French déplorable.
1. Of very poor quality or condition; SYN. execrable, miserable, woeful, wretched.
2. Very bad; SYN. distressing, lamentable, pitiful, sad, sorry.

Marked by deprivation especially of the necessities of life or healthful environmental influences; SYN. disadvantaged.

Dejected, sulky.

ETYM Old Eng., p. p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p. p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. Dutch verliezen to lose, German verlieren, Swed. förlora, Dan. forloren, Goth. fraliusan to lose. Related to For-, and Lorn, Lose.
Marked by or showing hopelessness.

ETYM French hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. Related to Hedge, Haw, and -ard.
1. Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed.
2. Having the expression of one wasted by want or suffering; hollow-eyed; having the features distorted or wasted, or anxious in appearance.

ETYM French misérable, Latin miserabilis, from miserari to lament, pity, from miser wretched. Related to Miser.
1. Characterized by physical misery; SYN. wretched.
2. Very unhappy; full of misery; SYN. suffering, wretched.

1. Shabbily dressed
2. Short of funds

Poor in number or in quality; worthless; pitiful; trifling

ETYM Old Eng. pitous, Old Fren. pitos, French piteux. Related to Pity.
1. Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad.
2. Paltry; mean; pitiful.
3. Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender.
4. Arousing or deserving pity.

ETYM Cf. Old Fren. pitiable, French pitoyable.
1. Deserving pity; worthy of, or exciting, compassion.
2. Of a kind to evoke mingled pity and contempt especially because of inadequacy.

(Homonym: pore, pour).
1. Having little money or few possessions.
2. Characterized by or indicating lack of money.
3. Badly supplied with desirable qualities or substances.
4. Low in degree.
5. Unsatisfactory.

1. Experiencing or showing or causing sorrow or unhappiness
2. Expressive of sorrow
3. Exemplary of misfortune

(Zoology) Having the body covered or partially covered with thin horny plates, as some fish and reptiles; SYN. scaley, scaled.

Mean and unworthy and despicable

ETYM Latin squalidus, from squalere to be foul or filthy.
1. Dirty through neglect; foul; filthy; extremely dirty.
2. Morally repulsive.

1. Full of woe; grievous
2. Involving or bringing woe
3. Lamentably bad or serious; deplorable

1. Containing a worm; abounding with worms.
2. Like or pertaining to a worm; earthy; groveling.

1. Very miserable; sunk in, or accompanied by, deep affliction or distress, as from want, anxiety, or grief.
2. Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable.
3. Hatefully contemptible; despicable; wicked.

(Slang) Rear end; buttocks.

ETYM Perh. from French coiffe headdress, hood, or coif; as if the cuff were a cap for the hand. Related to Coif.
The turned-back hem encircling the end of the sleeve or leg; SYN. turnup.

ETYM Latin absurdus harsh-sounding; ab + (prob) a derivative from a root svar to sound; not connected with surd: cf. French absurde. Related to Syringe.
1. Inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense; SYN. incongruous, unreasonable.
2. So devoid of wisdom or good sense as to be laughable; SYN. derisory, ludicrous, nonsensical, preposterous, ridiculous.

ETYM Latin asininus, from asinus ass. Related to Ass.
Complacently or inanely foolish; SYN. fatuous, inane, mindless, vacuous.
Of or pertaining to asses; stupid.
Pertaining to the ass; stupid fatuous.

Devoid of good sense or judgment.

ETYM Latin ridiculosus, ridiculus, from ridere to laigh. Related to Risible.
1. Fitted to excite ridicule; absurd and laughable; unworthy of serious consideration.
2. Involving or expressing ridicule.

ETYM Latin stupidus, from stupere to be stupefied: cf. French stupide.
Lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity.

Vacuously or complacently and unconsciously foolish; SYN. inanely.

Without good sense or judgment; SYN. unwisely.

ETYM Latin absurditas: cf. French absurdite.
1. A ludicrous folly; SYN. fatuity, fatuousness, silliness.
2. A message whose content is at variance with reason; SYN. absurdness, ridiculousness.

ETYM Latin ineptitudo.
1. The quality of being inept; unfitness; inaptitude; unsuitableness.
2. Absurdity; nonsense; foolishness.

The quality or state of being silly.

ETYM Latin stupiditas: cf. French stupidité.
1. A poor ability to understand or to profit from experience.
2. A stupid mistake; SYN. betise, folly, foolishness, imbecility.