discomfort
Americannoun
-
discomforts
plural
-
an absence of comfort or ease; uneasiness, hardship, or mild pain.
-
anything that is disturbing to or interferes with comfort.
verb (used with object)
-
discomforts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
discomforted,
past participle, past
-
discomforting
present participle
noun
-
an inconvenience, distress, or mild pain
-
something that disturbs or deprives of ease
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
discomfortsimple
-
discomfortssimple
-
have discomfortedperfect
-
has discomfortedperfect
-
am discomfortingprogressive
-
are discomfortingprogressive
-
is discomfortingprogressive
-
have been discomfortingperfect progressive
-
has been discomfortingperfect progressive
Past
-
discomfortedsimple
-
had discomfortedperfect
-
was discomfortingprogressive
-
were discomfortingprogressive
-
had been discomfortingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of discomfort
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the verb) Middle English discomforten “to discourage, pain,” from Anglo-French descomforter “to sadden, grieve”; equivalent to dis- 1 + comfort; noun derivative of verb
Explanation
Discomfort is the feeling of irritation, soreness, or pain that, though not severe, is annoying. Every year, people who get a cold or the flu experience a few days of discomfort. The noun discomfort is good for describing situations when you aren't quite in pain, but you don't feel very good. Things that cause discomfort include a dull toothache, a blister on your foot, and a terrible mattress. Discomfort can also describe embarrassment, like the discomfort you'd feel if you suddenly realized you were in the wrong classroom.
Vocabulary lists containing discomfort
Stay Strong: Forc and Fort
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That Hurts! Synonyms for "Pain"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But he often expressed discomfort at being labelled a "protest leader".
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
In the first three months after insertion, for instance, 69 percent of participants experienced heavy bleeding, and 28 percent had pelvic discomfort.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
This is a patient, deeply considered work, yet one electric with idiosyncratic detail and the discomfort of reckoning with the realities of class.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
It could also help people overcome obstacles such as limited time, discomfort, or difficulty maintaining a regular fitness routine.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
Yet despite all her worries, waking up in the deliciously familiar discomfort of a Swanburne cot made Penelope feel positively giddy.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
As the latest heat wave discomforts Europe, France is arguing about air conditioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
After the interview, Isaac and co-host Ronald Young Jr. talk about the challenges and discomforts of self-promotion.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2024
They demonstrate that resilience is not always about unwavering composure but about challenging the status quo, addressing discomforts with candor, and urging listeners to find strength beyond the lures of capitalism.
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2024
Eventually, she says her feeling of "personal responsibility" outweighed the discomforts of her pregnancy.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2023
The office of the Local Commensal Farm Centrality was hectic and upset, but they made time to look after me, and apologized to me for the discomforts of the night past.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The unapologetically Black person wears their Blackness every day, regardless of who is offended or discomforted by it.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
Duckett had been discomforted by the short ball and Root caught off a no-ball, yet England refused to temper their aggression.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2023
Mr. Kriegel’s raw emotion, it was plain, discomforted them.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
There were moments when Mitchell played rash drives at James Anderson and was briefly discomforted by short balls from Stokes, while Blundell looked skittish when leg-spinner Matt Parkinson came into the attack.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2022
“Of course — everyone knows —” muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Stark, discomforting amplification diminishes intimacy and the luxurious richness of Bullock’s soprano, which easily fills a room on its own, suggests quiet terror, the lonely state of Nina Simone’s “Images.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2026
That calmed worries that had built on Wall Street that the inflation data could show a discomforting reacceleration.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
It is a prospect that has some people bracing for possibly discomforting disclosures.
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
The absence of a human hand — made glaring and discomforting through the tiniest lapses of approximated intuition — can render the listening experience a valueless exchange, the music a bunk currency.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 16, 2023
But the fact is, once I had sat down to supper at their table, once a number of their neighbours had come calling, a most discomforting set of events began to unfold around me.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
