distress
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪˈstɹɛs/
rhymes: -ɛs
Forms: form: distresses
Etymology: The verb is from Middle English distressen, from Old French destrecier (“to restrain, constrain, put in straits, afflict, distress”); compare French détresse. Ultimately from Medieval Latin as if *districtiō, an assumed frequentative form of Latin distringō (“to pull asunder, stretch out”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringō (“to draw tight, strain”).
The noun is from Middle English distresse, from Old French destrece, ultimately also from Latin distringō.
Senses: examples: text: To heighten his distress, he is approached by his wife, and bitterly upbraided for his perfidy in concealing from her his former connexions (with that unhappy girl who is here present with her child, the innocent offspring of her amours, fainting at the sight of his misfortunes, being unable to relieve him farther), and plunging her into those difficulties she never shall be able to surmount.
ref: 1833, John Trusler, chapter 8, in The Works of William Hogarth: In a Series of Engravings, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2011:
text: At any other time Jessamy would have laughed at the expressions that chased each other over his freckled face: crossness left over from his struggle with the baby; incredulity; distress; and finally delight.
ref: 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122:
synonyms: anguish
torment
glosses: Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
synonyms: word: hardship
word: sorrow
word: affliction
word: aggrievance
word: distress
word: grief
word: grievance
word: hardship
word: misery
word: ruth
word: sadness
word: sorrow
word: undelight
word: vexation
word: woe
word: wrong
glosses: A cause of such discomfort.
examples: text: I immediately considered that this must be some ship in distress, and that they had some comrade, or some other ship in company, and fired these gun for signals of distress, and to obtain help.
ref: 1719, Daniel Defoe, chapter 13, in Robinson Crusoe, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2012:
text: At length they perceived a little cottage; two persons in the decline of life dwelt in this desert, who were always ready to give every assistance in their power to their fellow-creatures in distress.
ref: 1759, Voltaire, chapter 42, in Candide, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2011:
synonyms: word: jeopardy
word: peril
word: adventure
word: danger
word: distress
word: harm's way
word: peril
word: plight
word: jeopardy
word: risk
word: threat
word: menace
word: hazard
glosses: Serious danger.
topics: human-sciences
medicine
psychology
sciences
antonyms: eustress
glosses: An aversive state of stress to which a person cannot fully adapt.
topics: law
glosses: A seizing of property without legal process to force payment of a debt.
examples: text: If he were not paid, he would straight go and take a distress of goods and cattle.
ref: 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
text: The distress thus taken must be proportioned to the thing distrained for.
ref: 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
topics: law
glosses: The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction.
Synonyms: word: extremity
word: anguish
word: rend
word: difficulty
word: distress
word: grief
word: hardship
word: pain
word: smart
word: torment
word: torture
word: trouble
Hypernyms: word: sensation
Hyponyms: word: anxiety
word: fear
word: humiliation
word: misery
word: sorrow
word: terror
Derived terms: abuse of distress
damsel in distress
distressee
distresser
distressful
distressless
distress merchandise
distress purchase
distress sale
distress signal
infant respiratory distress syndrome
moral distress
postdistress
predistress
respiratory distress
Related terms: word: distrain
word: district
word: offend
word: vex