as in difficult
full of or causing stress; making you feel worried or anxious
I had a stressful day at work today. a stressful situation
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Recent Examples of stressful
For Fleenor, those connections remain the heart of the job — whether mentoring a new nurse, helping staff through a difficult shift or sitting with a patient and family during a stressful hospital stay.
—
Nancy Badertscher, AJC.com, 7 May 2026
The second season of Beef, much like the first season, is plenty stressful.
—Peter White, Deadline, 7 May 2026
Blue Cross is supporting approximately 48,000 members through this very stressful period by qualifying them for Continuity of Care services within the Michigan Medicine system for 90 days starting July 1.
—Jack Springgate, CBS News, 7 May 2026
So that can altogether bring a stressful situation for the players.
—Elias Burke, New York Times, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Nancy Badertscher, AJC.com, 7 May 2026
The second season of Beef, much like the first season, is plenty stressful.
—Peter White, Deadline, 7 May 2026
Blue Cross is supporting approximately 48,000 members through this very stressful period by qualifying them for Continuity of Care services within the Michigan Medicine system for 90 days starting July 1.
—Jack Springgate, CBS News, 7 May 2026
So that can altogether bring a stressful situation for the players.
—Elias Burke, New York Times, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stressful
Adjective
-
The Aces scored 26 points off those giveaways, which made things even more difficult on the defense.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 2026
-
Schiraldi oversaw a particularly difficult period on Rikers.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
Adjective
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Chase Meidroth made a shuffle toss to second base for a force out, but the Sox couldn’t complete what would have been a tough double play.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
7 May 2026
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Our legislators must make some tough decisions; avoiding the issues is not acceptable.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
More than half of the search-and-rescue workers who show up for the most trying missions are BUSARs.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
-
And Modi and Xi have had a more trying relationship than either has had with Putin.—
Thomas Wright,
The Atlantic,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stressful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stressful. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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