stressed

UK: /ˈstrɛst/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

stress /strɛs/   n. 

1. importance or significance attached to a thing;
   emphasis:
   [uncountable] to lay stress upon good manners.
2. Phonetics emphasis or force expressed as the relative loudness of a speech sound, syllable, or word:
   [uncountable] The word promise has stress on the first syllable.
   [countable] Count the stresses in the word supermarket.
3. Music and Dance accent (def. 7 ).
4. the physical force exerted on one thing by another* strain:
   [uncountable] The airplane wing snapped from stress.
   [countable] The stresses were large enough to snap the airplane wing completely off.
5. Psychiatry physical, mental, or emotional strain that disturbs one's normal bodily functions:
   [uncountable] Job-related stress was giving him an ulcer.
   [countable] the stresses of two jobs, a family, and a full-time course load at school.

v. [~ + object]

6. to emphasize;
   give or attribute (importance) to something:
   He stressed the need for higher education.
7. Phonetics to utter (a speech sound, syllable, or word) with noticeable loudness:
   You should stress the first and third syllables in the word supermarket.

stress•ful, adj.: 

a long, stressful workday.

stress•ful•ly, adv. 

-stress, 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

stress  (stres), n. 

1. importance or significance attached to a thing;
   emphasis:
   to lay stress upon good manners.
2. Phonetics emphasis in the form of prominent relative loudness of a syllable or a word as a result of special effort in utterance.
3. Poetry [Pros.] accent or emphasis on syllables in a metrical pattern;
   beat.
4. Music and Dance emphasis in melody, rhythm, etc.;
   beat.
5. the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another;
   strain.
6. [Mech.]
   • Mechanics the action on a body of any system of balanced forces whereby strain or deformation results.
   • Mechanics the amount of stress, usually measured in pounds per square inch or in pascals.
   • Mechanics a load, force, or system of forces producing a strain.
   • Mechanics the internal resistance or reaction of an elastic body to the external forces applied to it.
   • Mechanics the ratio of force to area.
7. Physiology a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.
8. Psychiatry physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension:
   Worry over his job and his wife's health put him under a great stress.
9. Psychiatry a situation, occurrence, or factor causing this:
   The stress of being trapped in the elevator gave him a pounding headache.
10. [Archaic.] strong or straining exertion.

v.t. 

11. to lay stress on;
    emphasize.
12. Phonetics to pronounce (a syllable or a word) with prominent loudness:
    Stress the first syllable of "runner.'' Stress the second word in "put up with.''
    Cf. accent (def. 18).
13. Physiology, Psychiatry to subject to stress or strain.
14. [Mech.] to subject to stress.

• 1275–1325; (noun, nominal) Middle English stresse, aphetic variant of distresse distress; (verb, verbal) derivative of the noun, nominal

stress′less, adj. 
stress′less•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 8. anxiety, burden, pressure, worry.

-stress, 

1. a feminine equivalent of -ster: seamstress;
   songstress.

• -st(e)r + -ess

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

stress / strɛs/ noun

1. special emphasis or significance attached to something
2. mental, emotional, or physical strain or tension
3. emphasis placed upon a syllable by pronouncing it more loudly than those that surround it
4. such emphasis as part of a regular rhythmic beat in music or poetry
5. a syllable so emphasized
6. force or a system of forces producing deformation or strain
7. the force acting per unit area

verb

1. (transitive) to give emphasis or prominence to
2. (transitive) to pronounce (a word or syllable) more loudly than those that surround it
3. (transitive) to subject to stress or strain

Etymology: 14th Century: stresse, shortened from distress

ˈstressful adjective