distressful

[ dih-stres-fuhl ]

adjective

1. causing or involving distress:

   the distressful circumstances of poverty and sickness.

2. full of, feeling, or indicating distress:

   a distressful cry.

Other Words From

• dis·tressful·ly adverb
• dis·tressful·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of distressful¹

First recorded in 1585–95; distress + -ful

Example Sentences

"Our experiments revealed that when people simulated distressful scenarios of other individuals, they felt much more personal distress than when these scenarios were not simulated. Interestingly, we also found imagining these scenarios in such a way increased the willingness to help that individual," says Sheldon, Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory.

From Science Daily

When a 2-year-old beagle named Fin was carried out in September from the Envigo breeding and research facility in Cumberland, Va., his exit marked the end of a nearly 60-day operation to rescue almost 4,000 dogs that had been living in highly distressful conditions.

From New York Times

“Those were distressful days,” he said.

From Washington Post

The State observed in its brief that, “Roe suggested that, without abortion, unwanted children could ‘force upon’ women “a distressful life and future.”

From Slate

When Roe was decided in 1973, she wrote, the justices maintained that an unwanted pregnancy would doom women to “a distressful life and future.”

From Seattle Times