What does "distress" mean?
Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
Distress
/dɪˈstɹɛs/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
- Grammar: distress is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: anguish, grief, hardship, trouble.
- Useful contrasts: balanced state, calm demeanor, spanish tranquilidad.
- Usage evidence: Famine caused great distress among the people.
How to use "distress"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "distress" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "distress" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "distress" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "distress" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "distress" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "anguish" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "distress", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. countable, uncountable
"To heighten his distress, he is approached by his wife, and bitterly upbraided for his perfidy in concealing from her his former connexions (with that unhappy girl who is here present with her child, the innocent offspring of her amours, fainting at the sight of his misfortunes, being unable to relieve him farther), and plunging her into those difficulties she never shall be able to surmount."
- 2 the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim wordnet
- 3 A cause of such discomfort. countable, uncountable
- 4 psychological suffering wordnet
- 5 Serious danger. countable, uncountable
"I immediately considered that this must be some ship in distress, and that they had some comrade, or some other ship in company, and fired these gun for signals of distress, and to obtain help."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 extreme physical pain wordnet
- 7 An aversive state of stress to which a person cannot fully adapt. countable, uncountable
- 8 a state of adversity (danger or affliction or need) wordnet
- 9 A seizing of property without legal process to force payment of a debt. countable, uncountable
- 10 The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction. countable, uncountable
"If he were not paid, he would straight go and take a distress of goods and cattle."
Verb
- 1 To cause strain or anxiety to someone.
"She respects me, no doubt, but has no longer any passionate feeling for me, and my death will distress her without plunging her in despair."
- 2 cause mental pain to wordnet
- 3 To retain someone’s property against the payment of a debt; to distrain.
"This power of distress, as anciently used, became as oppressive as the feudal forfeiture. It was as hard for the tenant to be stripped in an instant of all his goods, for arrears of rent, as to be turned out of the possession of his farm."
- 4 bring into difficulties or distress, especially financial hardship wordnet
- 5 To treat a new object to give it an appearance of age.
"a pair of distressed jeans"
Antonyms
balanced statecalm demeanorspanish tranquilidadsubjective well being
Example
"Famine caused great distress among the people."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "distress"?
Common synonyms include: anguish, grief, hardship, trouble, abashment, abuse.
How do you use "distress" in a sentence?
Famine caused great distress among the people.
How do you pronounce "distress"?
Pronounced /dɪˈstɹɛs/.
Etymology
The verb is from Middle English distressen, from Old French destrecier (“to restrain, constrain, put in straits, afflict, distress”); compare French détresse. Ultimately from Medieval Latin as if *districtiō, an assumed frequentative form of Latin distringō (“to pull asunder, stretch out”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringō (“to draw tight, strain”). The noun is from Middle English distresse, from Old French destrece, ultimately also from Latin distringō.