as in pains
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in disturbs
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
don't let all the bad news distress you
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for distresses
Noun
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Having witnessed centuries of religious warfare in Europe, when millions were killed for their beliefs, the framers took pains to make sure nothing like that would happen here.
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Perhaps second only to getting sunburned through your favorite white dress, the greatest casualty of summer fashion is the aches and pains brought on by your cutest but least supportive shoes.
Verb
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Tilling or plowing in the summer disturbs the soil's delicate ecosystem and exposes moist soil to rapid water loss.
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The pier in Michigan City’s Washington Park disturbs the natural flow of sand along the lakeshore, creating new land east of the pier but starving beaches to the west, an erosion problem repeated by other manmade structures that jut out into Lake Michigan.
Noun
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The reticence of Cartland’s heroes belies agonies of loneliness.
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Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies.
Verb
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What bothers me is the foot-dragging, the spinning in circles, the slow degradation of these characters into annoying stereotypes.
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What bothers me is the implication of a Labubu National Team full of these things.
Noun
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The sad thing is that the miseries return, but there is no other Garrincha available.
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The parallels between Ines’ dilemma and that of a nation being asked to lick its wounds in silence — in the name of moving on from past miseries — are present but elusive.
Verb
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That question is exactly what worries the people who keep it alive.
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What worries me most isn’t that AI will become smarter than humans.
Verb
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Mother’s explosion distracts Blaine and frees Sam.
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In my view, platforming these young men and sensationalizing their behaviors, rather than recognizing those behaviors as signs of psychological distress, distracts from the urgent need to address these serious mental health concerns.
Verb
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That case concerns a longstanding Supreme Court precedent that broadly shields members of such boards from being fired at will, in order to protect them from partisan interference.
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What concerns me is that many yung people are not indoctrinated about what the flag means.
Cite this Entry
“Distresses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distresses. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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