Synonyms for distress

noun

1. Mental agony

   worry, anxiety, perplexity, misery, sorrow, wretchedness, pain, suffering, agony, anguish, dejection, irritation, vexation, ache, heartache, dolor, ordeal, desolation, mortification, affliction, discomfort, trouble, woe, torment, torture, shame, embarrassment, disappointment, tribulation, pang; see also anxiety, grief 1.

   Antonyms joy*, happiness, ease, comfort.

2. Physical agony

   agony, anguish, suffering, ache; see pain 1, 2.

3. Misfortune

   straits, danger, trouble, adversity; see crisis, danger, difficulty 1, 2, disaster, poverty 1.

distress implies mental or physical strain imposed by pain, trouble, worry, or the like and usually suggests a state or situation that can be relieved distress caused by famine; suffering emphasizes the actual enduring of pain, distress, or tribulation the suffering of the wounded; agony suggests mental or physical torment so excruciating that the body or mind is convulsed with the force of it in mortal agony; anguish has equal force but is more often applied to acute mental suffering the anguish of despair

verb