What does "stress" mean?
A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
Stress
/stɹɛs/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
- Grammar: stress is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: emphasis, accent, emphasise, emphasize.
- Useful contrasts: carefree mood, diminished, inner quiet.
- Usage evidence: I would like to stress that it is more convenient to control tariffs as a bloc rather than country by country.
How to use "stress"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stress" 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 "stress" 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 "stress" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stress" 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 "stress" is acting as noun, verb, slang 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 "emphasis" 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 "stress", 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 A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism. countable, uncountable
- 2 the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch) wordnet
- 3 Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions. countable, uncountable
- 4 (physics) force that produces strain on a physical body wordnet
- 5 The internal distribution of force across a small boundary per unit area of that boundary (pressure) within a body. It causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by σ or τ. countable
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense wordnet
- 7 Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body. countable
- 8 difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension wordnet
- 9 Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal. uncountable
"Go easy on him, he's been under a lot of stress lately."
- 10 special emphasis attached to something wordnet
- 11 A suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound, word or word group by means of of loudness, duration or pitch; phonological prominence. broadly, countable
"Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second."
- 12 The suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound by means of loudness and/or duration; phonological prominence phonetically achieved by means of dynamics as distinct from pitch. countable
"The shift from pitch to stress appears to happen before the other obliques begin merging in the Proto-Italic, Proto-Germanic, Primitive Irish, and Middle Indo-Aryan. But further investigation into the timeline of sound changes […] shows that, at least in Germanic, the oblique and core noun stems sound quite unpredictably different in all these families by the time of the crucial accent shift from pitch to stress. […] once a language becomes stress-sensitive, there seems to be a strong tendency in early Indo-European languages to shift the stress to the first syllable. This change happens shortly after the change to stress accent in Proto-Germanic, Proto-Italic, and Proto-Celtic, and even Thessalian, with evidence from Dybo's Law and Verner's Law left behind to show that sound changes happened after the changes to stress accent."
- 13 Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written). uncountable
- 14 Obsolete form of distress. alt-of, countable, obsolete, uncountable
"With this sad Hersal of his heavy stress, The warlike Damzel was empassion's sore, And said; Sir Knight, your Cause is nothing less Than is your Sorrow , certes if not more"
- 15 distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain. transitive
- 2 to suffer from stress wordnet
- 3 To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal). transitive
- 4 put stress on; utter with an accent wordnet
- 5 To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated. informal, intransitive
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 to stress, single out as important wordnet
- 7 To emphasise (a syllable of a word). transitive
"“Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second."
- 8 test the limits of wordnet
- 9 To emphasise (words in speaking). transitive
- 10 To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion. transitive
"I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence."
Antonyms
Example
"I would like to stress that it is more convenient to control tariffs as a bloc rather than country by country."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stress"?
Common synonyms include: emphasis, accent, emphasise, emphasize, strain, tension.
How do you use "stress" in a sentence?
I would like to stress that it is more convenient to control tariffs as a bloc rather than country by country.
How do you pronounce "stress"?
Pronounced /stɹɛs/.
Etymology
From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”). In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.