Synonyms for distressing
dis·tress·ing

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. distressing

   Synonyms:
   depressing, disappointing, hateful, horrible, melancholy, miserable, mournful, painful, saddening, woful, wretched

   Antonyms:
   acceptable, agreeable, congenial, delicious, delightful, grateful, gratifying, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, refreshing, satisfying, welcome

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. distressing, distressful, disturbing, perturbing, troubling, worrisome, worryingadjective

   causing distress or worry or anxiety

   "distressing (or disturbing) news"; "lived in heroic if something distressful isolation"; "a disturbing amount of crime"; "a revelation that was most perturbing"; "a new and troubling thought"; "in a particularly worrisome predicament"; "a worrying situation"; "a worrying time"

   Synonyms:
   perturbing, unreassuring, worrying, deplorable, sorry, sad, disturbing, lamentable, distressful, worrisome, troubling, pitiful

   Antonyms:
   light, good

2. deplorable, distressing, lamentable, pitiful, sad, sorryadjective

   bad; unfortunate

   "my finances were in a deplorable state"; "a lamentable decision"; "her clothes were in sad shape"; "a sorry state of affairs"

   Synonyms:
   regretful, deplorable, hapless, no-account, reprehensible, woeful, dismal, troubling, execrable, dingy, disconsolate, perturbing, no-count, good-for-nothing, miserable, worrying, criminal, no-good, vicious, disturbing, dark, grim, sad, piteous, condemnable, lamentable, worrisome, misfortunate, pitiable, bad, poor, pathetic, wretched, sorry, pitiful, gloomy, drab, distressful, dreary, drear, good-for-naught, blue, meritless

   Antonyms:
   light, good

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:4.0 / 2 votes

1. happy

   sometimes people are so happy that others find it distressing

   jenna smiled brightly at her mother, who just looked distressed

   Submitted by anonymous on December 1, 2020  

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. distressingadjective

   Synonyms:
   grievous, distressful, painful, afflictive

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:5.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "distressing":

   painful, worrying, disturbing, harrowing, agonizing, sad, alarming, agonising, troubling, regrettable, stressful, depressing, worrisome, disheartening, deplorable, disquieting, disappointing, shocking

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How to use distressing in a sentence?

1. Mahatma Gandhi:

   Indolence is a delightful but distressing state we must be doing something to be happy.

2. Sigmund Freud:

   What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.

3. Barack Obama:

   For us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing, but it is not something I intend to stop working on in the last 18 months.

4. Kasper Holten:

   The production includes a scene which puts the spotlight on the brutal reality of women being abused during war time, and sexual violence being a tragic fact of war, the production intends to make it an uncomfortable scene, just as there are several upsetting and violent scenes in Rossini's score. We are sorry if some people have found this distressing.

5. Bruno Asnicar:

   These events are extremely distressing for everyone, police officers aren't immune from that. We're human beings as well.