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
River, stream, lake, ocean, or pond–Southerners know that sometimes the best balm for a fraught mind or stressful season is a quick trip to the nearest body of water.
—
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 3 June 2026
And as Bezos put it 25 years ago, taking ownership for your own success is a lot less stressful than waiting for someone else to fix it—and even less stressful than doing nothing at all.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 2 June 2026
Ultimately, better sleep should make your life easier—not more stressful.
—Sharon Brandwein, USA Today, 2 June 2026
The simplified connectors are intended to speed deployment and reduce connection errors during nighttime operations or stressful combat situations.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 1 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 3 June 2026
And as Bezos put it 25 years ago, taking ownership for your own success is a lot less stressful than waiting for someone else to fix it—and even less stressful than doing nothing at all.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 2 June 2026
Ultimately, better sleep should make your life easier—not more stressful.
—Sharon Brandwein, USA Today, 2 June 2026
The simplified connectors are intended to speed deployment and reduce connection errors during nighttime operations or stressful combat situations.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 1 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stressful
Adjective
-
JSerra navigated a difficult regular-season schedule, then avoided upsets in the playoffs.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
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But the strength of his acidic, strong, difficult performance was too powerful for the Tonys to deny.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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More recent air quality news Major automakers are urging the EPA to delay tougher vehicle pollution standards for two years.—
Tony Briscoe,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
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In a tough economy for local breweries, Clairvoyant has found a way to keep its heart beating.—
Michael Deeds,
Idaho Statesman,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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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
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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 11 Jun. 2026.
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