FluentPlex

distressing

/dɪˈstɹɛsɪŋ/ adjective B2
  1. Causing distress; upsetting; distressful. · The details of the ordeal can be distressing to some readers.
+ Save to review

From the library

The Sheep and the Goat complained of his distressing cries, and said, “He often handles us, and we do not cry out.” To this he replied, “Your handling and mine are very different things.
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 15 · B2
“It is difficult, indeed--it is distressing.
Pride and Prejudice, p. 96 · B2
Having resolved to do it without loss of time, as his leave of absence extended only to the following Saturday, and having no feelings of diffidence to make it distressing to himself even at the moment, he set about it in a very orderly manner, with all the observances which he supposed a regular part of the business.
Pride and Prejudice, p. 119 · B2
And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself, and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen.
Pride and Prejudice, p. 147 · B2

Learn distressing in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.