How to Use distraught in a Sentence

distraught

adjective
  • She was distraught over the death of her partner.
  • Distraught relatives are waiting for news of the missing children.
  • Like the distraught wife of the hero who saves the day.
    Molly Horan, Glamour, 19 Jan. 2018
  • No nori would grow off the coast of Japan, and farmers were distraught.
    Esther Inglis-Arkell, Ars Technica, 19 Nov. 2017
  • A few feet away from the car was a distraught middle-aged white male.
    Rachel Dissell, cleveland.com, 28 Apr. 2018
  • There was a lot of blood on the floor, but besides that, the owner was distraught.
    Jordan Freiman, CBS News, 18 June 2023
  • The girls, they were just distraught about what had transpired.
    Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2021
  • Her mother, so distraught by the loss of her child, ends her own life.
    Katie Bowlby, Country Living, 5 Feb. 2023
  • Manzo broke free and, distraught, went to the bathroom to wash her hands.
    Kate Aurthur, Variety, 26 Jan. 2024
  • Or the distraught girlfriend of the man who would and does risk everything.
    Molly Horan, Glamour, 19 Jan. 2018
  • The friend was distraught, but Barr was thrilled: the book was ruffling feathers.
    Eliza Griswold, The New Yorker, 25 July 2021
  • The description of the distraught man as a friend had confused matters for the agent.
    Jim Dwyer, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2018
  • Aemond looks distraught, but the damage is done and the first stone of the Dance of Dragons has been thrown.
    Jordan Moreau, Variety, 23 Oct. 2022
  • Maddie is shocked and distraught when Kyle is pulled out of Ty's car.
    Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 4 Feb. 2022
  • Near them sat a distraught Guatemalan father and his 7-year-old son.
    Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2021
  • Huang, who has run restaurants in the area for 28 years, was distraught when his staff told him what happened.
    Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2022
  • On seeing the replay after the game, Joyce was distraught.
    Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2021
  • Wooten said his deputies are very distraught over what happened and for the family of Brown.
    Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 28 Apr. 2021
  • Bailey said her son was too distraught to talk to a reporter.
    Glenn E. Rice, kansascity, 6 July 2018
  • For the remainder of the episode, Seema is distraught over the luxurious theft.
    Christian Allaire, Vogue, 29 June 2023
  • Cobbertt said she and her siblings, as well as Dale's wife, are distraught and in shock.
    NBC News, 23 Aug. 2021
  • Police said Selis was distraught over a breakup with a girlfriend .
    Debbi Baker, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2 May 2017
  • When their newborn failed a hearing test, Quinn and Kai were distraught.
    Kristina Bernhardt, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2020
  • As far as Baumgartner can tell, the look in Ed’s eyes is both hopeful and distraught.
    Paul Auster, Harper’s Magazine , 16 Mar. 2022
  • The man who’d gone from installing vinyl car roofs to leading one of rock’s greatest bands was distraught.
    Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Its back displayed the distraught face of actor Anupam Kher, who plays the woman’s father-in-law in the film.
    Supriya Sharma, Quartz, 15 Apr. 2022
  • So Archie gets suspended and Fred is distraught over it.
    Jessica MacLeish, Teen Vogue, 2 Nov. 2017
  • Irving left the arena, too distraught to play following the death of his friend.
    Brian Mahoney, Star Tribune, 25 Jan. 2021
  • My husband and rock through it all was equally distraught.
    Nikki Kolb, Glamour, 4 Sep. 2019
  • For days, the city’s Muslim residents have been distraught as police scoured the city for the suspect.
    Dan Frosch, WSJ, 9 Aug. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'distraught.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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