noun
-
the pain, misery, or loss experienced by a person who suffers
-
the state or an instance of enduring pain, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suffering
First recorded in 1350–1400; suffer + -ing 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Suffering is the kind of pain you feel when you shatter your ankle and it's what you'll see all around you if you find yourself in the middle of a tornado or an earthquake. When you're suffering, you're not happy — in fact, you're quite miserable. The Latin roots that give us suffering and related words paint a vivid picture of what suffering feels like. The word comes from sub-, meaning "below," and ferre, "bear." Suffering is something pressing you down that you have to submit to and bear. It's definitely the opposite of fun.
Vocabulary lists containing suffering
Because of Winn-Dixie
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"The Young American" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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The House of Hades
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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.
But compared with other oil exporters in the region “Iran is suffering the least,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Bass has pushed back on those arguments, saying that, when she took over from Garcetti, city services already had been suffering from many years of neglect.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Heading into May, cybersecurity stocks were suffering from the AI-disruption narrative that had hurt other software stocks.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
But he said too many people were still suffering in silence.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
The nuts the camaradas had eaten were bad, and most of them were suffering from food poisoning—with vomiting, diarrhea, and dizziness.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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.
