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

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

In Roe, the Supreme Court said that an unwanted pregnancy could lead women to “a distressful life and future,” and in a 1992 case, Casey v.

From New York Times

Wade, the court, almost paternalistically, worried about the “distressful life and future” of a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy.

From Washington Post

“I saw for myself that it is very distressful for anyone and especially females to go through that and be gawked and stared at,” he said.

From Seattle Times

Teiresias, the prophet who had brought so many distressful prophecies to the royal family, came to bring still another.

From Literature