distress
verb/dɪˈstres/
/dɪˈstres/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they distress | /dɪˈstres/ /dɪˈstres/ |
| he / she / it distresses | /dɪˈstresɪz/ /dɪˈstresɪz/ |
| past simple distressed | /dɪˈstrest/ /dɪˈstrest/ |
| past participle distressed | /dɪˈstrest/ /dɪˈstrest/ |
| -ing form distressing | /dɪˈstresɪŋ/ /dɪˈstresɪŋ/ |
- to make somebody feel very worried or unhappy
- distress somebody It was clear that the letter had deeply distressed her.
- distress yourself Don't distress yourself (= don't worry).
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French destresce (noun), destrecier (verb), based on Latin distringere ‘stretch apart’.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
distress