distressful

  • 1Distressful — Dis*tress ful, a. Full of distress; causing, indicating, or attended with, distress; as, a distressful situation. Some distressful stroke. Shak. Distressful cries. Pope. Syn: distressing. [1913 Webster] {Dis*tress ful*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2distressful — index lamentable, painful Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3distressful — 1590s, from DISTRESS (Cf. distress) + FUL (Cf. ful). Related: Distressfully; distressfulness …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4distressful — [di stres′fəl] adj. 1. causing distress; painful; grievous 2. feeling, expressing, or full of distress …

    English World dictionary

  • 5distressful — distressfully, adv. distressfulness, n. /di stres feuhl/, adj. 1. causing or involving distress: the distressful circumstances of poverty and sickness. 2. full of, feeling, or indicating distress: a distressful cry. [1585 95; DISTRESS + FUL] * *… …

    Universalium

  • 6distressful — distress ► NOUN 1) extreme anxiety or suffering. 2) the state of a ship or aircraft when in danger or difficulty. 3) Medicine a state of physical strain, especially difficulty in breathing. ► VERB 1) cause distress to. 2) give (furniture, leather …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7distressful — adjective causing distress or worry or anxiety distressing (or disturbing) news lived in heroic if something distressful isolation a disturbing amount of crime a revelation that was most perturbing a new and troubling thought in a particularly… …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 8distressful — adjective Date: 1591 causing distress ; full of distress • distressfully adverb • distressfulness noun …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 9distressful — adjective Causing or having distress, strain, or anxiety …

    Wiktionary

  • 10distressful — (Roget s Thesaurus II) adjective Troubling to the mind or emotions: disquieting, disruptive, distressing, disturbing, intrusive, perturbing, troublesome, troublous, unsettling, upsetting, worrisome. See HAPPY, PAIN …

    English dictionary for students