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- pronunciation:
- dih
stres
- parts of speech:
- noun, verb
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
Distress is great pain, sadness, fear, or worry. When people feel distress, they often feel that they have no control and they don't know what to do, or they fear there is nothing they can do to help themselves.
Mr. Morten has been feeling great distress since his wife died.The accident caused a lot of distress for the whole family.- synonyms:
- anxiety, pain, suffering, worry
- antonyms:
- comfort
- similar words:
- agony, difficulty, discomfort, grief, sorrow, strain, straits, stress, tax, torture
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| definition 2: |
If a thing is in distress, it is in serious trouble.
A nearby ship's crew saw that a smaller ship was in distress. They sailed close to see if they could rescue the passengers.- synonyms:
- trouble
- similar words:
- danger, difficulties, hardship, misfortune, need, peril, straits
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| related words: |
ache, alarm, care, hurt, matter, pain, trial, trouble, worry, wound |
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| part of speech: |
verb |
| inflections: |
distresses, distressing, distressed |
| definition: |
If something distresses someone, it causes them great pain, sadness, fear, or worry.
The news that their son had had an accident and needed surgery right away distressed the parents very much.It distresses Mrs. Henry when her husband refuses to take his medicine.- synonyms:
- afflict, pain, trouble, worry
- antonyms:
- calm, comfort, please
- similar words:
- bother, disturb, strain, stress, tax, upset
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| related words: |
afflict, alarm, concern, dent, disagree, shake, wound |
| derivation: |
distressingly (adv.) |
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