distress

[ dih-stres ]

noun

1. great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble:

   distress over his mother's illness.

   Synonyms: tribulation, adversity, anguish, agony

   Antonyms: comfort

2. a state of extreme necessity or misfortune:

   After the stock market crash, he found himself in great financial distress.

   Synonyms: destitution, need

3. the state of a ship or airplane requiring immediate assistance, as when on fire in transit.
4. that which causes pain, suffering, trouble, danger, etc.:

   His willful disobedience was a distress to his parents.

5. liability or exposure to pain, suffering, trouble, etc.; danger:

   a damsel in distress.

6. Law.
   1. the legal seizure and detention of the goods of another as security or satisfaction for debt, etc.; the act of distraining.
   2. the thing seized in distraining.

adjective

1. afflicted with or suffering distress:

   distress livestock; distress wheat.

2. caused by or indicative of distress or hardship:

   distress prices; distress borrowing.

verb (used with object)

1. to afflict with great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; trouble; worry; bother:

   It distresses Grandpa when you bring up the war.

2. to subject to pressure, stress, or strain; embarrass or exhaust by strain:

   to be distressed by excessive work.

3. to compel by pain or force of circumstances:

   Her faithlessness distressed him into ending their marriage.

4. to dent, scratch, or stain (furniture, lumber, or the like) so as to give an appearance of age:

   She used an old bicycle chain to distress the surface of the table before applying a deep stain.

distress

/ dɪˈstrɛs /

verb

1. to cause mental pain to; upset badly
2. usually passive to subject to financial or other trouble
3. to damage (esp furniture), as by scratching or denting it, in order to make it appear older than it is
4. law a less common word for distrain
5. archaic.
   to compel

noun

1. mental pain; anguish
2. the act of distressing or the state of being distressed
3. physical or financial trouble
4. in distress
   (of a ship, aircraft, etc) in dire need of help
5. law
   1. the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of or in satisfaction of a debt, claim, etc; distraint
   2. the property thus seized
   3. ( as modifier )

      distress merchandise

Derived Forms

• disˈtressingly, adverb
• disˈtressing, adjectivenoun
• disˈtressfully, adverb
• disˈtressful, adjective
• disˈtressfulness, noun

Other Words From

• dis·tress·ing·ly adverb
• pre·dis·tress noun verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of distress¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun destresse, distresse, from Anglo-French distresse, destresse, Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin districtia, equivalent to Latin district(us) “exercise of justice” + noun suffix -ia; the verb developed from the noun; district, -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of distress¹

C13: from Old French destresse distress, via Vulgar Latin, from Latin districtus divided in mind; see distrain

Synonym Study

See sorrow.