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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
With espresso especially, the right grinder can be the difference between ecstasy, agony, and simple defeat.—
Matthew Korfhage,
Wired News,
1 Apr. 2025
-
According to the outlet, the agony caused Cornett to remove her name outside her dorm room, temporarily relocate to emergency housing, switch to online classes and continue to spend most of her time in her room.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
1 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
-
This uncharacteristic decision leads to a day of risk and romance, liberation and intimacy: 24 hours that will transform Allyson’s life.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
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
-
Beyond that, Europe and Canada were alarmed last month when the United States split with European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three United Nations resolutions seeking an end to the war.—
Lorne Cook and Matthew Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
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
-
The couple shared their shocking experience in a now-viral TikTok video, warning others about the dangers of unsafe food handling.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Aside from crime, the advisory spotlights the dangers around jet skiing and boating in the Bahamas, noting that the boating industry is not well regulated and some watercraft are not licensed, which has led to injury and death.—
Katie Nadworny,
Travel + Leisure,
3 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
This was concerning and also shocking because no one likes him.—
The Totally Football Show,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
My husband had told me the same thing once, many years before, and like my boyfriend now his voice had been shot through not with passion but with pain.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
2 Apr. 2025
-
Tariff timeline: Tracking the evolution of Donald Trump's trade war Trump says the ultimate fruits of tariffs will be worth the pain.—
Bailey Schulz,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
That record was put in serious jeopardy in 2007 by Bill Belichick's New England Patriots.—
Faris Tanyos,
CBS News,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Monday’s ruling throws her ability to run into jeopardy, with another candidate likely having to lead the party’s presidential aspirations in two years.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Distress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distress. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share