That's really distressing.
Source: tatoeba (2251229)
Distressing
//dɪˈstɹɛsɪŋ//
Synonyms for "distressing" (179 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (36)
Strong matches (54)
Related words (89)
malignmalignantmischievousmournfulmovingnaggingnoisomenoxiousominousoppressiveparoxysmalpatheticperniciouspiercingpiteouspitiableplaguingpoignantpoisonousprejudicial
Show 43 more words
provocativepungentrackingregrettableruefulsadsaddeningscathefulseveresharpshockingshootingsoresorrowfulspasmaticspasmicspasmodicstabbingstiffstingingtenseterribletighttormentingtorturoustouchingtoxictryingunbearableuncomfortableunfortunateupsettingvenenateveneniferousvenenousvenomousviciousvirulentwoebegonewoefulworrisomeworryingwretched
Adjective(19 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Synonyms
7 entriesderived
3 entriesderived from
1 entriesform of
1 entriesrelated to
2 entriessimilar
3 entriesTranslations
27 translations across 11 languages.
Albanian
1 entries- shqetësues adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Ancient Greek
2 entries- θυμαλγής adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- λυπηρός adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Esperanto
1 entries- angoriga adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Finnish
2 entries- huolestuttava adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- painostava adj (causing distress; upsetting)
German
3 entries- beunruhigend adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- beängstigend adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- furchteinflößend adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Irish
4 entries- anacrach adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- anróiteach adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- coscrach adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- léanmhar adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Italian
3 entries- desolante adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- doloroso adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- penoso adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Māori
1 entries- tarariki adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Polish
4 entries- cierpki adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- hiobowy adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- niepokojący adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- przygnębiający adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Russian
3 entries- го́рестный adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- огорчи́тельный adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- печа́льный adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Spanish
2 entries- angustioso adj (causing distress; upsetting)
- distresante adj (causing distress; upsetting)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
Tom had a job as a roadkill picker-upper and he found it very distressing.
Source: tatoeba (3647552)
That is a distressing story.
Source: tatoeba (4054899)
It was extremely distressing.
Source: tatoeba (4494017)
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
Keep exploring
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.