distressful
part of speech
adjective (rare)
meaning for a pupil
1) Causing pain, worry or sadness; upsetting. tree →
2) Full of trouble and suffering. tree →
sense 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 →
- The ship's crew had a long, distressful voyage through the storm. tree →
- The news of the accident was distressful for the whole town. tree →
- The lost puppy gave a distressful whine. tree →
- Moving away from all her friends was a distressful time for Ella. tree →
- The old poem tells of distressful days of war and hunger. tree →
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.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «distressful» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.