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)

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

Related Words

See sorrow.

Other Word Forms

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

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

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

Distress is high in FHA mortgages, where a lot of first-time buyers and lower-income Americans get their home financing.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

Distress ensues when these savior suitors, who are bound for a yearlong voyage, fail to show up at the appointed hour to bid the ladies farewell.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025

The Enabling Act was known at the time as “The Act for the Removal of the Distress of the People and the Reich.”

From Salon • Feb. 16, 2025

Boeing said it continues to “work under the oversight of global regulators on the requirement for a Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System.”

From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2024

Elizabeth Drinker heard more stories of friends who had died, and lamented: “Desolution, Cruelty and Distress have of late resounded in our ears from many quarters.”

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy