distress

American  

[dih-stres] / dɪˈstrɛs /

noun

1. 

   great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble.

   distress over his mother's illness.

   Synonyms:

   tribulation, adversity, anguish, agony

   Antonyms:

   comfort

2. a state of extreme necessity or misfortune.

   After the stock market crash, he found himself in great financial distress.

   Synonyms:

   destitution, need

3. the state of a ship or airplane requiring immediate assistance, as when on fire in transit.

4. that which causes pain, suffering, trouble, danger, etc..

   His willful disobedience was a distress to his parents.

5. liability or exposure to pain, suffering, trouble, etc.; danger.

   a damsel in distress.

6. Law.

   1. the legal seizure and detention of the goods of another as security or satisfaction for debt, etc.; the act of distraining.

   2. the thing seized in distraining.

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adjective

1. afflicted with or suffering distress.

   distress livestock; distress wheat.

2. caused by or indicative of distress or hardship.

   distress prices; distress borrowing.

verb (used with object)

• distresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• distressed,
  past participle,  past
• distressing
  present participle

1. to afflict with great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; trouble; worry; bother.

   It distresses Grandpa when you bring up the war.

2. to subject to pressure, stress, or strain; embarrass or exhaust by strain.

   to be distressed by excessive work.

3. to compel by pain or force of circumstances.

   Her faithlessness distressed him into ending their marriage.

4. to dent, scratch, or stain (furniture, lumber, or the like) so as to give an appearance of age.

   She used an old bicycle chain to distress the surface of the table before applying a deep stain.

distress British  

/ dɪˈstrɛs /

verb

1. to cause mental pain to; upset badly

2. (usually passive) to subject to financial or other trouble

3. to damage (esp furniture), as by scratching or denting it, in order to make it appear older than it is

4. law a less common word for distrain

5. archaic to compel

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noun

1. mental pain; anguish

2. the act of distressing or the state of being distressed

3. physical or financial trouble

4. (of a ship, aircraft, etc) in dire need of help

5. law

   1. the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of or in satisfaction of a debt, claim, etc; distraint

   2. the property thus seized

   3. ( as modifier )

      distress merchandise

Synonym Usage

See sorrow.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• distressfulness
  noun
• predistress
  noun
• distressful
  adjective
• distressing
  adjective
• distressfully
  adverb
• distressingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• distressing
  present
• distressed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• distress
  simple
• distresses
  simple
• have distressed
  perfect
• has distressed
  perfect
• am distressing
  progressive
• are distressing
  progressive
• is distressing
  progressive
• have been distressing
  perfect progressive
• has been distressing
  perfect progressive

Past

• distressed
  simple
• had distressed
  perfect
• was distressing
  progressive
• were distressing
  progressive
• had been distressing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will distress
  simple
• will have distressed
  perfect
• will be distressing
  progressive
• will have been distressing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of distress

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun destresse, distresse, from Anglo-French distresse, destresse, Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin districtia, equivalent to Latin district(us) “exercise of justice” + noun suffix -ia; the verb developed from the noun; see origin at district, -ia

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Explanation

If you are in distress, you are in trouble. You're hurting — either physically or mentally. See the word stress hanging out at the end of distress? There's a good reason for that. The noun distress refers to a state of severe anxiety or strain, often brought about by failing to study for an exam, harassing grizzly bears, or borrowing your sister's clothes without asking. When used as a verb, to distress means to cause all that pain, suffering and anxiety — in other words, to stress somebody out.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

distress distresses distressed distressing

He said a zoo would also be unsuitable for Harriet, arguing she would become lonely and suffer unnecessary distress.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Some young Weil lawyers quickly flooded social media with distress signals—and résumés.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

But, after saying goodbye to their daughter, the couple faced further distress.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Navarro had been on the run since around Aug. 25, when San Bernardino County deputies responded to a distress call at around 6 a.m. to the Crestline residence of 71-year-old Therese Garcia.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

There is a silver dragon that curls around part of the now visible clockwork, a tiny princess in a carved tower who paces in distress, awaiting an absent prince.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Sleeping out in the stifling summer heat leaves her exhausted, but what distresses her more is not knowing when or how this situation will end.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

This is said to produce a form of underwater noise pollution which distresses the animals.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025

“It distresses us to return work which is not perfect,” the note read.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2024

The turn against immigration distresses some Texas business owners.

From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2022

“The coroner,” he wrote Margaret three days after the collapse, “is a disagreeable little doctor, a political hack, without brains, who distresses me.”

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

He said it became "really difficult" for the family to travel from one side of the town to the other without her becoming distressed.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Players from both teams were visibly distressed by the incident, with a number of De Miguel's team-mates in tears.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Previously, Samantha reported on distressed debt at 9fin, where she covered liability management transactions and corporate restructurings in the leveraged finance and private credit markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

It wanted the GP to take over prescribing testosterone to a vulnerable 18-year-old female, who was distressed about her gender.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Slant is greatly distressed by this terrible lullaby; and protested to Olakunde, Pomp, and me, “Maybe he live for one hundred years. They can’t go eat him. Another thing can’t die. Not one more thing.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Clancy's original trial, which featured more than 80 witnesses and days of distressing testimony, sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

“What should have been a happy childhood moment became heartbreaking and distressing for him and deeply painful for our family to witness.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

"It was getting a bit distressing," she said, and both mother and daughter had worried it might collapse in the night when Sabrina moved.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

"This is terrible and distressing news; our hearts go out to Hyron's family and the whole Lions rugby community," said Mark Alexander, president of the South African Rugby Union.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

“I was just telling your parents that I had a very distressing visit from Mrs. William Blythe.”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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