Misery, n.; pl. Miseries.
Etymology: [OE. miserie, L. miseria, fr. miser wretched: cf. F. misère, OF. also, miserie.]
1. Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe. Chaucer. Destruction and misery are in their ways. Rom. iii. 16.
2. Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune. When we our betters see bearing our woes, We scarcely think our miseries our foes. Shak.
3. Covetousness; niggardliness; avarice. [Obs.]
Syn. -- Wretchedness; torture; agony; torment; anguish; distress; calamity; misfortune.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for misery; he lists it under misfortune.
Where he writes about it:
We speak of the misery of the poor, the hardships of the soldier. — from misfortune