VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

suffering

noun, adjective·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈsʌfərɪŋ/
US/ˈsʌfərɪŋ/

Meanings

  1. noununcountable

    Physical pain or emotional distress that someone endures over a period of time.

    Grammar: Usually uncountable: the suffering of the refugees.

    Patterns

    • the suffering of someone
    • suffering from something
    • relieve suffering

    The nurse worked to ease the patient's suffering.

    War brought great suffering to the town.

    She could not bear the animal's suffering.

  2. nounusually pluralformal

    A particular painful experience, often one of many.

    Grammar: Usually plural in this sense: their sufferings.

    Patterns

    • the sufferings of someone

    The book describes the sufferings of the early settlers.

    He spoke about his sufferings in prison.

    Their sufferings were soon forgotten.

  3. adjectivebefore a noun

    Experiencing pain or hardship at the present time.

    Grammar: Comes before a noun: the suffering patients.

    Patterns

    • the suffering population

    Aid reached the suffering families.

    The suffering patient was moved to a quiet room.

    Doctors gave comfort to the suffering child.

Word forms

pluralsufferings

Common combinations

human suffering
The earthquake caused immense human suffering.
relieve suffering
Medicine can relieve suffering.
cause suffering
The policy caused needless suffering.
end the suffering
They hoped to end the suffering of the refugees.
unnecessary suffering
Vets try to avoid unnecessary suffering.

Synonyms and how they differ

pain
Pain is the sensation itself, while suffering includes the wider distress it causes.
anguish
Anguish is intense mental torment and sounds more dramatic.
misery
Misery describes a state of deep unhappiness and can be less severe than suffering.
hardship
Hardship refers to difficult living conditions, not necessarily pain.

Opposites

comfortreliefhappiness

Word family

suffer verb
to experience pain or hardship
sufferer noun
a person who suffers from an illness
sufferable adjective
able to be endured

Commonly confused: suffering or suffrage?

suffering vs suffrage

Suffrage means the right to vote and has no link to pain.

Practice

Which sentence uses suffering correctly?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “suffering”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words