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• stress
  stress

  noun

  importance attached to a thing.
• -stress
  -stress

  a feminine equivalent of -ster.

stress

¹ American  

[stres] / strɛs /

noun

• stresses
  plural

1. importance attached to a thing.

   to lay stress upon good manners.

   Synonyms:

   worth, value, weight, consequence, emphasis, meaning, significance

2. Phonetics. emphasis in the form of prominent relative loudness of a syllable or a word as a result of special effort in utterance.

3. Prosody. accent or emphasis on syllables in a metrical pattern; beat.

4. emphasis in melody, rhythm, etc.; beat.

5. the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain.

6. Mechanics.

   1. the action on a body of any system of balanced forces whereby strain or deformation results.

   2. the amount of stress, usually measured in pounds per square inch or in pascals.

   3. a load, force, or system of forces producing a strain.

   4. the internal resistance or reaction of an elastic body to the external forces applied to it.

   5. the ratio of force to area.

7. Physiology. a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

8. physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension.

   Worry over his job and his wife's health put him under a great stress.

   Synonyms:

   strain, struggle, exertion, effort, oppression, pressure, burden, anxiety

9. a situation, occurrence, or factor causing this.

   The stress of being trapped in the elevator gave him a pounding headache.

10. Archaic. strong or straining exertion.

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verb (used with object)

• stresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stressed,
  past participle,  past
• stressing
  present participle

1. to lay stress on; emphasize.

2. Phonetics. to pronounce (a syllable or a word) with prominent loudness.

   Stress the first syllable of “runner.” Stress the second word in “put up with.”

3. to subject to stress or strain.

4. Mechanics. to subject to stress.

verb (used without object)

• stresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stressed,
  past participle,  past
• stressing
  present participle

1. to experience stress or worry.

   Don't stress about the turkey; I promise it will be delicious.

   Dad is always stressing out over his job.

-stress ² American  

1. a feminine equivalent of -ster.

   seamstress; songstress.

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-stress ¹ British  

suffix

1. indicating a woman who performs or is engaged in a certain activity Compare -ster

   songstress

   seamstress

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stress ² British  

/ strɛs /

noun

1. special emphasis or significance attached to something

2. mental, emotional, or physical strain or tension

3. emphasis placed upon a syllable by pronouncing it more loudly than those that surround it

4. such emphasis as part of a regular rhythmic beat in music or poetry

5. a syllable so emphasized

6. physics

   1. force or a system of forces producing deformation or strain

   2. the force acting per unit area

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verb

1. (tr) to give emphasis or prominence to

2. (tr) to pronounce (a word or syllable) more loudly than those that surround it

3. (tr) to subject to stress or strain

4. informal (intr) to become stressed or anxious

stress Scientific  

/ strĕs /

1. The force per unit area applied to an object. Objects subject to stress tend to become distorted or deformed.

2. Compare strain See also axial stress shear stress See more at Hooke's law

3. 1. A physiologic reaction by an organism to an uncomfortable or unfamiliar physical or psychological stimulus. Biological changes result from stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, including a heightened state of alertness, anxiety, increased heart rate, and sweating.

   2. The stimulus or circumstance causing such a reaction.

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stress ¹ Cultural  

1. In physics, the internal resistance of an object to an external force that tends to deform it.

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stress ² Cultural  

1. A physical factor, such as injury, or mental state, such as anxiety, that disturbs the body's normal state of functioning. Stress may contribute to the development of some illnesses, including heart disease and cancer.

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Usage

What does -stress mean? The form -stress is a suffix that marks a feminine agent noun, which indicates a person who does an action. This suffix is occasionally used in a variety of informal terms, but it has lost popularity in recent years. Increasingly, -stress is seen as an unnecessarily gendered suffix for forming agent nouns because it identifies the "doer" as female. The suffix -stress is a combination of two similar suffixes: Old English -estre, which marked female agent nouns, and Old French -esse (see -ess), a common feminine ending for nouns. What are variants of -stress?When agent nouns ending in -stress are used to refer to a masculine- or neutral-gendered element, -stress becomes -ster, as in seamster (a male seamstress). Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -ster article.

Discover More

The term stress also refers to the physical and mental state produced in the body when it is influenced by such factors: “The stress of the new job was too much for Tim, so he requested reassignment to his old position in the company.”

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonstress
  noun
• stressfulness
  noun
• stresslessness
  noun
• understress
  noun
• restress
  verb
• de-stress
  verb (used with object)
• understress
  verb (used with object)
• antistress
  adjective
• overstressed
  adjective
• stressful
  adjective
• stressless
  adjective
• well-stressed
  adjective
• stressfully
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stresses
  plural

Participles

• stressing
  present
• stressed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stress
  simple
• stresses
  simple
• have stressed
  perfect
• has stressed
  perfect
• am stressing
  progressive
• are stressing
  progressive
• is stressing
  progressive
• have been stressing
  perfect progressive
• has been stressing
  perfect progressive

Past

• stressed
  simple
• had stressed
  perfect
• was stressing
  progressive
• were stressing
  progressive
• had been stressing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stress
  simple
• will have stressed
  perfect
• will be stressing
  progressive
• will have been stressing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of stress¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English stresse, aphetic variant of distresse; (verb) derivative of the noun; see origin at distress

Origin of -stress²

-st(e)r + -ess

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Explanation

The word stress is about pressure, whether it's pressure on a syllable of a word (TRAIN-er versus train-EE), an object (the bridge is designed to handle the stress of the cars), or a person (I am under a lot of stress). It says something about our culture, how much we love to use the word stress and keep redefining it to mean new things. The word first appeared in about 1300, when it meant hardship or a force to which someone is subjected. In the 1890s, we stretched the meaning to include "emphasizing something" and, in the middle of the 20th century, started to associate it with psychological pressure.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stress stresses stressed stressing

The researchers observed a different response in mice exposed to chronic stress.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 7, 2026

He left school at 15, and thinks few of his teachers understood how much stress he had been under because he had been "embarrassed" to tell them.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Opponents of the measure included doctors who said that it is "not backed by clinical guidelines, and would create unwarranted stress and harm for young girls."

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

Software can also model different scenarios, like assuming a married filing status and then stress testing different outcomes if one spouse should die earlier than their expected longevity.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

I’ve been practicing all week, so I’m not going to stress myself about it.

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

Mr. Mikaberidze stresses larger consequences of the purchase, from the extension of slavery to the dispossession of Indian nations whose lands had been sold out from under their feet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

"My husband stresses that this is a time for unity, not for looking for people to blame," she said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

Considered alongside an excellent lineup of contemporaries, “You Can See Everything” stresses that the genre isn’t about uncovering truths, but playing with our subjective relationship to them.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

People who exercise are more likely to eat well, not smoke, look after their heart health and have fewer financial stresses.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

Lareau stresses that one style isn’t morally better than the other.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

As a result, she said she was " really disappointed" in the police chief and stressed "we've got to trust our juries" who are able to have an understanding of the nature of sexual offences.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

While "investments in renewable energy are essential", Turkey's energy transition "must be carried out in a planned and gradual manner," he stressed.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

Gene editing is giving crops a way to tell farmers when they’re feeling stressed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

One early step occurs when stressed cell membranes release arachidonic acid, a fatty molecule that serves as the starting material for producing 5-oxoETE.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Kappe welcomed them and stressed that their secret mission was just as important as any big battle on the front lines.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Today, Canada's lobsters are "doing better," Brady told AFP, because while temperature increases in Maine waters are stressing lobster populations, "that's not the case up in Canada."

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

Tesla is also stressing its margins through massive spending on A.I., so the company doesn’t look like the EV juggernaut it once was.

From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026

Addressing criticism he has received, Brittin told a staff meeting last week he was attempting to make a point around the "pace of change" while stressing he believed in "human creativity".

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Officials at the World Petroleum Congress on Monday echoed his message, with many stressing that disrupting Saudi energy supplies would have consequences beyond its borders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Which is way better than stressing out about memorizing a bazillion lines and having everyone know how bad of a singer I am.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy

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