Meaning & use
distress
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Meanings
noununcountable
Strong worry, sadness or pain caused by a troubling event.
Grammar: No plural: in distress.
Patterns
- in distress
- cause distress to someone
The child was in great distress.
The news caused her deep distress.
He hid his distress.
noununcountable
A situation of danger needing urgent help, especially at sea.
Grammar: Often a distress signal.
Patterns
- a ship in distress
The ship sent a distress call.
The hiker was in distress.
verbtransitive
To make someone very upset or worried.
Grammar: Takes a person as object.
Patterns
- distress someone
The graphic images distressed viewers.
It distresses me to see her sad.
verbtransitivetechnical
To treat wood or fabric so it looks old and worn.
Grammar: Usually passive: distressed jeans.
Patterns
- distress something
He distressed the table with sandpaper.
The jeans were distressed on purpose.
Word forms
| third person singular | distresses |
|---|---|
| past tense | distressed |
| past participle | distressed |
| -ing form | distressing |
| plural | distresses |
Common combinations
- in distress
- The boat was in distress.
- emotional distress
- The incident caused emotional distress.
- distress signal
- They sent a distress signal.
- cause distress
- Noise can cause distress.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anguish
- Stronger and more intense.
- anxiety
- Ongoing worry, often without a clear cause.
- suffering
- Wider, often physical.
- upset
- Milder and common.
Opposites
Word family
- distressed adjective
- upset or in trouble
- distressing adjective
- causing distress
Commonly confused: distress or stress?
distress vs stress
Stress is pressure over time; distress is a sharper suffering.
Practice
The mother was in great ___ when her child went missing.
Choose one answer.
Distress means severe upset. The other nouns are positive.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “distress”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.