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:
There’s a trade-off: We experience a little emotional discomfort by being constantly surveilled, but we are rewarded with the more physical comforts of safety and efficiency.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
He felt some discomfort in his shoulder, the same one he had surgically cleaned up in September, since last Saturday in New York, Stewart said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
People are showing up in barely-there outfits to business conferences and weddings, prompting shock and discomfort among other attendees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Actors, musicians and performers train to inhabit perspectives not their own, to remain present through discomfort, and to sustain attention across time.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
I’m pretty sure we can all feel her discomfort.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
As the latest heat wave discomforts Europe, France is arguing about air conditioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
"That's life. But I was always looking to learn from those discomforts."
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2025
Fans eagerly complain on social media about the creature discomforts of these overstuffed shows: the long lines, the high-priced drinks, the overlapping sets that mean you have to choose between your two favorite bands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2024
After the interview, Isaac and co-host Ronald Young Jr. talk about the challenges and discomforts of self-promotion.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2024
The floor was made of warped planks lull of splinters, and his sleeping pallet smelled of mildew, but those discomforts were mild compared to what Davos had expected.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Boland was poor in the first innings, but first discomforted Duckett with a blow to the back elbow then drew the left-hander into a poke to second slip.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025
Jaiswal, who made a double century in the second Test, was discomforted by Wood's pace and poked to slip.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2024
He moved from 45 overnight to his eighth Test score of 50 or more, but was discomforted by the short ball.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2023
Mr. Kriegel’s raw emotion, it was plain, discomforted them.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
“Of course — everyone knows —” muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
That calmed worries that had built on Wall Street that the inflation data could show a discomforting reacceleration.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
The discomforting intimacy of the sequence has stayed with him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
The robot’s movements, informed by years of studying how birds walk, include a slight sway in its frame when it is at rest, to dispel the discomforting stillness that bothers humans.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2022
His desperation and menace emerged from act to act in a jarring time-lapse, and his chronically unbalanced chemistry with Leonard overloaded his José with discomforting pathos.
From Washington Post ● May 15, 2022
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
Definitions 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.
