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)
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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
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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:
Mr. Chabal detects “a good deal of repression” and a discomfort with Jewishness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Klein has been on the IL since the start of the month, with what the Dodgers called right elbow discomfort.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
But at some stage it’s likely the discomfort will get too much for the shorts and they may feel forced to buy back their positions.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
But other times we have to stop because of discomfort or panic, a reality that affects us for the worse.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Garcías were only legal residents, not citizens, but for the police to mistake Mami for a citizen was a compliment too great to spare a child discomfort.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
As the latest heat wave discomforts Europe, France is arguing about air conditioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
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
For Mason Kidd, a 22-year-old freelance film producer, those are small discomforts worth bearing to watch history.
From BBC ● May 11, 2024
I’m making it sound pretty bad, but none of us minded the discomforts one bit—it was all part of the excitement of being at the Cottages.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
He was discomforted on 19 by a Carse blow to the ribs - an area England did not explore often enough.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 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
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
I apologized by instinct to him for this mishap which discomforted only me.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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
If your thirst for strange Santas is still not quenched, this discomforting Mexican morality tale will be the gift that keeps on giving — nightmares, that is.
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2022
But there are times to make people uncomfortable enough that they stop discomforting others.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2022
Something is discomforting about a sun that gives no heat but keeps shining.
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
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.
