Distress

How to spell distress

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce distress

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does distress mean?

1. nounExtreme anxiety, suffering, or pain, or a state of urgent danger needing help.
2. verbTo cause someone to feel anxiety, sorrow, or pain.

Distress in a sentence

• noun

  The sinking yacht sent out a distress signal at dawn.

• verb

  The sudden news of the layoffs began to distress the whole team.

• noun

  Losing the contract caused her real financial distress.

• verb

  Loud arguments late at night can distress young children.

Where does distress come from?

Language of origin: French

This word travels into English from Old French destresse (also spelled destrece), which named hardship, constraint, or oppression. The French form grew out of Vulgar Latin districtia, itself rooted in the Latin verb distringere, made from dis- meaning 'apart' and stringere meaning 'to draw tight' or 'to bind'. The literal idea was of being stretched in different directions or hemmed in, which neatly captures the feeling of being squeezed by trouble. English adopted it in the 1200s, at first for severe pressure, want, or the legal seizing of goods, before the modern sense of mental or physical suffering took hold. The same stringere root sits inside relatives like 'strict', 'restrict', and 'strain', and that shared family is a useful reminder that distress keeps its double letters: one s closing 'dis' and the doubled ss of the tight 'stress' core.

How the word is built

• dis- (apart, asunder)
• -stress (from Latin stringere: to draw tight)