stressed

adjective

ˈstrest 

: subjected to or affected by stress

Feeling stressed can often lead people to reach for a high-calorie, sugary comfort food.

—Alexa Mikhail

As important as training is to distance running, the time devoted to repair stressed muscles between races is even more crucial.

—Joseph Hall

That translates into a drought, and stressed trees are highly susceptible to beetle infestations.

—Jim Robbins

… the soundscape inside these vehicles, punctuated by mechanical rattles and the groans of stressed metal …

—Chris Knight

—often used with out

—often hyphenated before a noun

She's never looked so stressed out, or been so unflatteringly photographed.

—David Ansen

… the kind of help most stressed-out parents can only dream of …

—Michelle Tauber et al.

Synonyms of stressed

• tired
• exhausted
• nervous

Examples of stressed in a Sentence

He was feeling pretty stressed about the deadline.

you seem really stressed right now, so maybe you should try to do something more relaxing

Recent Examples on the Web

Here, Salcito acts as your personal sommelier with helpful tips about making sense of restaurant wine lists and bottle shop shelves, but also gets into more technical subjects like why winemakers are so stressed about climate change, and why soil type matters for vineyards. —Oset Babür-Winter, Bon Appetit Magazine, 17 Nov. 2025

That motor acts as a stressed member of the monocoque frame, which also receives some important tweaks. —New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2025

At the same time, the FAA has fielded an increasing number of complaints from pilots who are reporting that individual air traffic controllers have been less responsive than usual or appear more stressed, Duffy said. —Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025

Infested plants are usually too stressed to bloom well. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing stressed

• stressed been
• stressed BIN
• stressed-out

Rhymes for stressed

• abreast
• accessed
• addressed
• appressed
• armrest
• arrest
• assessed
• attest
• backrest
• behest
• bequest
• caressed