misère
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from French misère. Doublet of misery.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mɪˈzɛə(ɹ)/, /miːˈzɛə(ɹ)/
- Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
Noun
misère (plural misères)
- (card games, whist and others) A bid to lose every trick, or the majority of tricks, with no trumps.
- 1895, Barry Pain, Jerome Klapka Jerome (contributors), To-Day, A Weekly Magazine-Journal[1], volume 9, number 105, page 248:
- The exasperating frequency of hands where one card alone, such as a king or ace, supported by a deuce only, or king or ace bare, debars the holder from calling misère is an experience common to every player.
Adjective
misère (not comparable)
- Played according to the reverse of the usual winning convention.
- A strategy in misère backgammon is to put six blots in a row.
- Of a game, in which a player that is unable to move wins.
Derived terms
See also
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /miˈsɛːr(ə)/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: mi‧sè‧re
- Rhymes: -ɛːrə
Noun
misère f or m (plural misères)
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mi.zɛʁ/
- (Quebec) IPA(key): /mi.zaɛ̯ʁ/
Audio; “la misère”: (file)
Noun
misère f (plural misères)
Derived terms
- avoir de la misère
- chercher misère
- faire des misères
- misère noire
- salaire de misère
Descendants
Interjection
misère
Further reading
- “misère”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.