ömurlegur

Unknown. Old Norse ǫmurligr (“repulsive, hideous”). Related to Norwegian Nynorsk omurlaus (“carefree”). May be related to apur (“hard, bitter”) which is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *ampraz. ömur- would need to come from Proto-Germanic *amuraz.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈœːmʏrˌlɛɣʏr/

ömurlegur (comparative ömurlegri, superlative ömurlegastur)

1. pitiful, miserable (hard to look at, evoking pity)

   Synonyms: aumkunarverður, aumur, ámátlegur, dapurlegur, ræfilslegur, vansæll, vesaldarlegur, vesæll

   Börnin eru helstu fórnarlömb ömurlegra aðstæðna: stór hluti þeirra býr á götunum sem minna helst á ruslahauga.

   Children are the main victims of the miserable conditions: a large number of them live on the streets, which resemble garbage dumps.

2. dreary, dismal (characterized by, pervaded with sadness)

   Synonyms: leiðinlegur, snautlegur, tómlegur

   Maður þekkir alveg þá tilfinningu að tapa líka og það er náttúrulega ömurleg tilfinning.

   One knows the feeling of losing too, and it's naturally a miserable feeling.

3. (more generally) awful, dire, hopeless

   Synonyms: agalegur, ferlegur, gasalegur, glataður, hrikalegur, lélegur, voðalegur, vonlaus

   Efnahagsástandið í Venesúela hefur verið ömurlegt undanfarna mánuði og er skortur á lyfjum og mat í landinu.

   The economic situation in Venezuela has been dire in recent months, and there are shortages of medicine and food in the country.

• ömurlega (“miserably”, adverb)
• ömurlegheit n pl (“misery”)

• ömurleiki m (“misery”)
• ömurð f (“misery”)

• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2026), “ömurlegur”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• “ömurlegur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)