DISTRESS | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
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English (UK)

Meaning of distress in English

distress
noun [ U ]
uk
/dɪˈstres/ us
/dɪˈstres/
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C1
a feeling of extreme worry, sadness, or pain:
She claimed that the way she had been treated at work had caused her extreme emotional and psychological distress.
Many of the horses were showing signs of distress at the end of the race.
Synonyms
alarm (WORRY)
concern (WORRY)
consternation
preoccupation
worry
C2
a situation in which you are suffering or are in great danger and therefore in urgent need of help:
Six people were rescued by helicopter from a fishing boat in distress off the coast.
a distress signal
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Sadness and regret
See more results »
distress
verb [ T ]
uk
/dɪˈstres/ us
/dɪˈstres/
to make someone feel very upset or worried:
I hope I haven't distressed you with all these personal questions.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Making people sad, shocked and upset
See more results »
(Definition of distress from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

distress | American Dictionary

distress
noun [ U ]
us
/dɪˈstres/
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great mental or physical suffering, such as extreme anxiety, sadness, or pain, or the state of being in danger or urgent need:
emotional/financial distress
Four men were rescued from a fishing boat in distress off the coast.

distress

verb [ T ] us
/dɪˈstres/
Rice appeared distressed about the argument and could not talk about it.

distressing

adjective us
/dɪˈstres·ɪŋ/
[ + that clause ] It is distressing that so little progress has been made after all this time.
(Definition of distress from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

distress | Business English

distress
noun
uk
/dɪˈstres/ us
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[ C or U ]   LAW
the legal action of taking and selling another person’s property in order to get money for a payment or debt that they owe:
make a distress A distress should be made for the whole rent in arrears; but if goods cannot be found at the time, the injured party may make a second distress.
[ U ]   ECONOMICS, FINANCE
financial failure, for example, not having enough money to pay back a debt or the costs of operating a business:
Rising dependence on credit cards could be a sign of distress as some consumers borrow just to meet routine expenses.
economic/financial distress
(Definition of distress from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of distress

distress
Anxious/resistant attachment is characterized by difficulty settling with the caregiver when distressed, often tinged with anger.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The daily coherence rating reflected the consistency of a child's attachment behaviors each day across the three distressing situations in the diary.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The story remains as distressing for the nineteenth-century households.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
We can all cite distressing examples of the failures of systems and of workers to respond in a timely and appropriate way.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
According to a perception-action theory of empathy, the subject is distressed because the state of the object is imparted to him directly.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Do they find it distressing when art museums fail to hang pictures of brains on their walls?
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The offence is not designed to penalise the expressions of opinion that happen to be disagreeable, distasteful, or even offensive, annoying or distressing.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The general practitioner is a first port of call for people with all manner of distressing circumstances.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Because such potentially distressing events are predictable, but unavoidable, they are an ideal focus for an investigation of coping behaviours.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The considerable costs of her earlier treatment had been futile, distressing, and wasteful.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Fears about travel were not only distressing but were also the main factor limiting the children's social activities and relationships with friends.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The presence of auditory hallucinations in non-help-seeking community samples emphasizes that the experience of voices per se may not or may not be distressing.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
I knew how to respond to the statements distressed patients frequently say when confronted with difficult circumstances.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Even so, over one third of patients were depressed and one out of four carers was distressed.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Participants (patients and controls) were not distressed when listening to the distorted or alien feedback, but usually described it as an unusual experience.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of distress
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with distress

distress

These are words often used in combination with distress.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

acute distress
He felt that acute distress or anxiety in the other patients precluded effective communication.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
considerable distress
This clearly causes considerable distress to the family, who obviously feel a deep sense of pain at her expression of grief.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
cry of distress
Why is it that last winter and last summer the cry of distress was so great that charitable people were asked to help?
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with distress
What is the pronunciation of distress?
 

Translations of distress

in Chinese (Traditional)
憂慮, 悲傷, 痛苦…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
忧虑, 悲伤, 痛苦…
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in Spanish
aflicción, angustia, peligro…
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in Portuguese
sofrimento, aflição, perigo…
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in more languages
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in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
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in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
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in Thai
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in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
त्रास, दुर्घटनाग्रस्त…
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苦痛, 災難, 遭難…
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elem, acı, ıstırap…
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détresse [feminine], affliction [feminine], bouleverser…
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aflicció, angoixa, perill…
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leed, pijn, bron van verdriet…
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அதீத கவலை, சோகம் அல்லது வலியின் உணர்வு, நீங்கள் துன்பப்படும் அல்லது பெரும் ஆபத்தில் இருக்கும் ஒரு சூழ்நிலை…
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पीड़ा या कष्ट, व्यथा, वेदना…
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યાતના, આફત…
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sorg, bekymring, smerte…
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bedrövelse, smärta, trångmål…
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kedukaan, kemurungan, penderitaan…
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die Qual, das Leid, bedrücken…
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bekymring [masculine], fortvilelse [masculine], nød [masculine]…
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شدید درد, تکلیف, رنج…
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горе, страждання, причина смутку…
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горе, страдание, (терпящий) бедствие…
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తీవ్ర ఆందోళన, విచారం లేక నొప్పి యొక్క భావన, మీరు బాధపడుతున్న లేక గొప్ప ప్రమాదంలో ఉన్న పరిస్థితి మరియు అందువల్ల సహాయం యొక్క అత్యవసర అవసరం…
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انْزِعاج, قَلَق, مِحْنة…
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কষ্ট, দুর্দশাগ্রস্ত…
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úzkost, bolest, bída…
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sedih, penyebab kesedihan, membuat sedih…
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ความเศร้าโศก, ความยุ่งยาก, ความเสียใจ…
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nỗi đau buồn, khiến buồn bã, làm buồn phiền…
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rozpacz, niebezpieczeństwo, martwić…
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고통, 조난, 괴롭히다…
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pena, afflizione, pericolo…
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distraction thief
distractor
distrain
distraught
distress
distress borrowing
distress call BETA
distress selling
distress signal BETA

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