N. unskillfulness, want of skill, incompetence, incompentency, inability, infelicity, indexterity, inexperience, disqualification, unproficiency, quackery, folly, stupidity, indiscretion, thoughtlessness (neglect) 460, sabotage, mismanagement, misconduct, impolicy, maladministration, misrule, misgovernment, misapplication, misdirection, misfeasance, petticoat government, absence of rule, rule of thumb, bungling, failure, screw loose, too many cooks, blunder, etourderie gaucherie, act of folly, balourdise, botch, botchery, bad job, sad work, sprat sent out to catch a whale, much ado about nothing, wild-goose chase, bungler, fool

V. be unskillful, not see an inch beyond one's nose, blunder, bungle, boggle, fumble, botch, bitch, flounder, stumble, trip, hobble, put one's foot in it, make a mess of, make hash of, make sad work of, overshoot the mark, play tricks with, play puck, mismanage, misconduct, misdirect, misapply, missend, stultify oneself, make a fool of oneself, commit oneself, act foolishly, play the fool, put oneself out of court, lose control, lose control of oneself, lose one's head, lose one's cunning, begin at the wrong end, do things by halves, make two bites of a cherry, play at cross purposes, strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, put the cart before the horse, lock the stable door when the horse is stolen, not know what one is about, not know one's own interest, not know on which side one's bread is buttered, stand in one's own light, quarrel with one's bread and butter, throw a stone in one's own garden, kill the goose which lays the golden eggs, pay dear for one's whistle, cut one's own throat, bum one's fingers, knock one's head against a stone wall, beat one's head against a stone wall, fall into a trap, catch a tartar, bring the house about one's ears, have too many eggs in one basket (imprudent) 863, have too many irons in the fire, mistake, take the shadow for the substance, bark up the wrong tree, be in the wrong box, aim at a pigeon and kill a crow, take the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear, get the dirty end of the stick, put the saddle on the wrong horse, put a square peg into a round hole, put new wine into old bottles, cut blocks with a razor, hold a farthing candle to the sun, fight with a shadow, grasp at a shadow, catch at straws, lean on a broken reed, reckon without one's host, pursue a wild goose chase, go on a fool's goose chase, sleeveless errand, go further and fare worse, lose one's way, miss one's way, fail

Adj. unskillful, inexpert, bungling, awkward, clumsy, unhandy, lubberly, gauche, maladroit, left-handed, heavy-handed, slovenly, slatternly, gawky, adrift, at fault, inapt, unapt, inhabile, untractable, unteachable, giddy, inconsiderate, stupid, inactive, incompetent, unqualified, disqualified, ill-qualified, unfit, quackish, raw, green, inexperienced, rusty, out of practice, unaccustomed, unused, untrained, uninitiated, unconversant, shiftless, unstatesmanlike, unadvised, ill-advised, misadvised, ill-devised, ill-imagined, ill- judged, ill-contrived, ill-conducted, unguided, misguided, misconducted, foolish, wild, infelicitous, penny wise and pound foolish

Phr. one's fingers being all thumbs, the right hand forgets its cunning, il se noyerait dans une goutte d'eau, incidit in scyllam qui vult vitare charybdim, out of the frying pan into the fire, non omnia possumus omnes

N. mental suffering, pain, dolor, suffering, sufferance, ache, smart, passion, displeasure, dissatisfaction, discomfort, discomposure, disquiet, malaise, inquietude, uneasiness, vexation of spirit, taking, discontent, dejection, weariness, anhedonia, annoyance, irritation, worry, infliction, visitation, plague, bore, bother, botheration, stew, vexation, mortification, chagrin, esclandre, mauvais quart d'heur, care, anxiety, solicitude, trouble, trial, ordeal, fiery ordeal, shock, blow, cark, dole, fret, burden, load, concern, grief, sorrow, distress, affliction, woe, bitterness, heartache, carking cares, heavy heart, aching heart, bleeding heart, broken heart, heavy affliction, gnawing grief, unhappiness, infelicity, misery, tribulation, wretchedness, desolation, despair, extremity, prostration, depth of misery, nightmare, ephialtes, incubus, pang, anguish, agony, torture, torment, purgatory, hell upon earth, iron age, reign of terror, slough of despond, peck of troubles, "ills that flesh is heir to", miseries of human life, "unkindest cut of all", sufferer, victim, prey, martyr, object of compassion, wretch, shorn lamb

V. feel pain, suffer pain, experience pain, undergo pain, bear pain, endure pain, smart, ache, suffer, bleed, ail, be the victim of, labor under afflictions, bear the cross, quaff the bitter cup, have a bad time of it, fall on evil days, go hard with, come to grief, fall a sacrifice to, drain the cup of misery to the dregs, "sup full of horrors", sit on thorns, be on pins and needles, wince, fret, chafe, worry oneself, be in a taking, fret and fume, take on, take to heart, cark, grieve, mourn, yearn, repine, pine, droop, languish, sink, give way, despair, break one's heart, weigh upon the heart

Adj. in pain, in a state of pain, full of pain, suffering, pained, afflicted, worried, displeased, aching, griped, sore, on the rack, in limbo, between hawk and buzzard, uncomfortable, uneasy, ill at ease, in a taking, in a way, disturbed, discontented, out of humor, weary, heavy laden, stricken, crushed, a prey to, victimized, ill-used, unfortunate, to be pitied, doomed, devoted, accursed, undone, lost, stranded, fey, unhappy, infelicitous, poor, wretched, miserable, woe-begone, cheerless, careworn, concerned, sorry, sorrowing, sorrowful, cut up, chagrined, horrified, horror-stricken, in grief, plunged in grief, a prey to grief, in tears, steeped to the lips in misery, heart-stricken, heart-broken, heart-scalded, broken-hearted, in despair

Phr. "the iron entered into our soul", haeret lateri lethalis arundo, one's heart bleeding, "down, thou climbing sorrow", "mirth cannot move a soul in agony", nessun maggior dolere che ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria, "sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things", "the niobe of nations"