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# distressful

adjective (rare)

«distressful» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Causing pain, worry or sadness; upsetting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#m1)
2. Full of trouble and suffering. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#m2)

### In the lessons

A rare, slightly old-fashioned word; today people usually say «distressing». It describes a sight, piece of news or time that hurts people's feelings. In old books it may describe hard times, a sad cry or a painful journey.

### Examples

- It was a distressful sight to see the flooded houses. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#x1)
- The ship's crew had a long, distressful voyage through the storm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#x2)
- The news of the accident was distressful for the whole town. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#x3)
- The lost puppy gave a distressful whine. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#x4)
- Moving away from all her friends was a distressful time for Ella. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#x5)
- The old poem tells of distressful days of war and hunger. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/#x6)

### Note

Adjective; in modern English «distressing» is much more common, and «distressed» describes the person who feels upset. «Distress» is the noun (a ship in distress = in danger). Spelling: double s twice — distre-ss-ful.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «distressful» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/distressful/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«distressful» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/distressful.html) on Mova free.