1
as in agony
a state of great suffering of body or mind
the upcoming bar exam is causing us considerable distress the survivors were in extreme distress after having been stranded on the island for a week with no food
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in risk
the state of not being protected from injury, harm, or evil
a ship in distress
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to alarm
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
don't let all the bad news distress you
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of distress
Avery Lotz, Axios, 24 Mar. 2025
Customers can have their data deleted On March 21, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert to the state's 23andMe customers given the company’s financial distress, reminding them of their right to have their genetic data deleted.
—Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2025
Ella Polak, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025
Maddie’s first call is, thankfully, not from someone crying into a voice changer, but a boy named Chance who’s trapped with his unconscious dad in an apartment filling up with smoke — also distressing, just par for the course.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for distress
Noun
That financial distress has sparked a big question for some of the more than 15 million customers who have used the company's services: What does a sale mean for the genetic data 23andMe stores?
—Avery Lotz, Axios, 24 Mar. 2025
Customers can have their data deleted On March 21, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert to the state's 23andMe customers given the company’s financial distress, reminding them of their right to have their genetic data deleted.
—Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2025
Verb
Yet after three years of running away from war, the weight of her refugee status is distressing her more than ever.
—Ella Polak, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025
Maddie’s first call is, thankfully, not from someone crying into a voice changer, but a boy named Chance who’s trapped with his unconscious dad in an apartment filling up with smoke — also distressing, just par for the course.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for distress
Recent Examples of Synonyms for distress
Noun
-
His experiences at Fuchu Prison left him with frostbite, screaming in agony, after being exposed to sub-zero temperatures during 20 days in solitary confinement.—
Daniel Taylor,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
-
What began as a blissful afternoon in the Florida sun ended in agony when a Jeep Wrangler suddenly barreled over a man lying on the beach, police said.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The country could be at risk of losing its elimination status if an outbreak continued for more than one year.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2025
-
But experts warned that the tariffs, which ranged from a baseline 10% for most nations up to more than 100% for Chinese imports, raised the risks of a recession and would likely reignite inflation.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Inspired by the urgent call from birth justice leaders and alarming CDC statistics showing Black women in the United States are three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women.—
Melissa Noel,
Essence,
9 Apr. 2025
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Are we supposed to be alarmed that team is falling apart?—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
In the episode, Duran describes his mental anguish during that time and some of the steps he’s taken since then to improve his mental health.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
-
And all of that anguish of going through that process of retrying to develop my body in a way that will never be the same anyway.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Emery introduced two attackers, Watkins and Malen, in the 66th minute, yet there was little danger that Rogers would be one of those to make way.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
-
The Arkansas Forestry Division listed wildfire danger in Benton County, and all other counties in the state, as low as of 8:40 a.m. Monday.—
NWA Democrat-Gazette,
Arkansas Online,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
This was concerning and also shocking because no one likes him.—
The Totally Football Show,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
-
When Nintendo finally officially revealed the Switch 2 in January, one of our major unanswered questions concerned whether games designed for the original Switch would see some form of visual or performance enhancement when running on the backward-compatible Switch 2.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
In a lengthy interview with The Daily Mail, Moran's friend, Terry Stone, told the outlet that Moran's girlfriend was the one to encourage him to seek medical help after the actor was experiencing neck pain.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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James Austin Johnson’s Donald filled the role of Jason Isaacs’ Timothy, despondent over crashing the U.S. economy with his tariffs and turning to McDonald’s chicken nuggets to ease the pain.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
13 Apr. 2025
Noun
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So why is the proposal to locate a shelter here in such jeopardy — to the point where Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has said the project is dead?—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 Apr. 2025
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These rangers are dedicated to their work of connecting New York City kids with nature and learning opportunities, but job instability puts the entire ranger team and their programming in constant jeopardy.—
Adam Ganser,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Distress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distress. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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