Breathlessness

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being breathless or out of breath, especially merely temporarily from exertion. uncountable, usually

    "Climbing eight flights of stairs while the elevator is out of service can easily produce some breathlessness in people whose physical fitness is otherwise not noticeably impaired."

  2. 2
    a dyspneic condition wordnet
  3. 3
    Difficult or labored breathing, as a symptom or sign of a medical condition. uncountable, usually

    "Since he'd entered the urgent care center, his breathlessness had only gotten worse, even though he'd been sitting quietly."

Synonyms

All synonyms
shortness of breathsobanhelationdyspneadyspnoeapanting

Example

More examples

"There was a breathlessness, an apprehension, a realization that something was wrong, and a sense that things more catastrophic were gestating in the womb of the future."

Etymology

From breathless + -ness.

Related phrases

out of breathshortness of breath

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.