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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

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

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

“From interviews with his close friends, police also learned that he had been under stress over his studies and had complained about it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Perilously low water levels are the latest stress for the region’s economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

She said the significant stress made her worry about her unborn child and caused her to "spiral" on some occasions.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

More than 170 people with post-traumatic stress disorder and frequent, severe nightmares took part.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Even after all the testing, they had no idea how a human would handle the stress of space flight, so they’d rigged everything to work automatically.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

There are plenty of other ways that our culture has disguised unhealthy behaviors, as “Maddie’s Secret” so cunningly stresses.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

Dominic Sessa stars alongside Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodall and Emilia Jones in a superb biopic about the renowned chef, years before fame, that stresses the value of discipline and hard work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The solutions, the report stresses, will need to meet people where they are.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

"Worries or stresses kind of melt away as you're focused," he said, comparing it to the mindfulness people can get from yoga, sport or watching a film.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Matthias turned his face to the wall, bereft of any tears or lamentation after the stresses of the experience he had recently come through.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

No wonder Jaissle has already stressed the importance of clean sheets, and the players were left sapped by the sheer number of recovery runs during a particular session.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Nonetheless, a specific Bundibugyo vaccine remains the preferred option for fighting the current outbreak, they stressed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Pointing to a decade of work promoting football worldwide - and in particular his support of African nations - the federation stressed that the episode should not overshadow Infantino's wider record.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesperson for Lara, stressed that the decision will not affect current rates since it left existing regulations in place.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Jason stressed about controlling a team of fiery horses with wind ropes.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Health Secretary Angela Constance said she was encouraged by the "developments we have made thus far", stressing that the pilot programme was still "in the early stages".

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

While stressing that officials needed to make a comprehensive assessment, he said he saw "no emergency exit signage, emergency lighting systems or fire alarm devices".

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

But Klingbeil rejected claims Berlin was "looting" the fund, while stressing cuts were necessary to help plug the hole in the budget.

From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026

Earlier this year, the US said it would deploy about 200 troops to support Nigeria's counter-insurgency efforts, while stressing that its forces would not take part in ground combat.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

In stressing ‘discovery’ I am providing an explanation for the new cultural values of late-Renaissance Europe.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• agony
• anxiety
• burden
• crunch
• fear
• hardship
• hassle
• heat
• intensity
• nervousness
• strain
• tension
• trauma
• worry