Discomfort

How to spell discomfort

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce discomfort

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does discomfort mean?

1. nounA feeling of slight physical pain or mental unease.

Discomfort in a sentence

• The cramped airline seat caused real discomfort on the long flight.

• She spoke about her discomfort with the new office policy during the meeting.

Where does discomfort come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word joins the negating prefix dis-, meaning 'not' or 'the reverse of', to comfort, which English borrowed from Old French conforter, 'to strengthen or console'. That French verb came from the Late Latin confortare, built from the prefix com- (used here as an intensifier) and the adjective fortis, meaning 'strong'; so the literal idea was to make someone strong again. The compound discomfort entered English in the 1300s, at first carrying the strong sense of 'to deprive of courage or comfort', closer to active distress than to mere unease. Over the centuries the meaning softened into the modern idea of slight physical or mental unease. The hidden fortis root is a useful memory hook: the same strength element survives in 'fort', 'fortify', and 'effort', and remembering the full word comfort tucked inside helps keep the spelling intact.

How the word is built

• dis- (absence or reversal of)
• comfort (ease, well-being)