distressing

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
distressing
    adj 1: 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"
           [syn: {distressing}, {distressful}, {disturbing},
           {perturbing}, {troubling}, {worrisome}, {worrying}]
    2: bad; unfortunate; "my finances were in a deplorable state";
       "a lamentable decision"; "her clothes were in sad shape"; "a
       sorry state of affairs" [syn: {deplorable}, {distressing},
       {lamentable}, {pitiful}, {sad}, {sorry}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Distress \Dis*tress"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Distressed}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Distressing}.] [Cf. OF. destrecier. See {Distress},
   n.]
   1. To cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with
      calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable.
      [1913 Webster]

            We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.
                                                  --2 Cor. iv.
                                                  8.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To compel by pain or suffering.
      [1913 Webster]

            Men who can neither be distressed nor won into a
            sacrifice of duty.                    --A. Hamilton.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Law) To seize for debt; to distrain.

   Syn: To pain; grieve; harass; trouble; perplex; afflict;
        worry; annoy.
        [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
distressing \dis*tress"ing\ (d[i^]s*tr[e^]s"[i^]ng), a.
   Causing distress; painful; unpleasant.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Distressing \Dis*tress"ing\, adv.
   In a distressing manner.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
118 Moby Thesaurus words for "distressing":
      acute, affecting, afflictive, agonizing, annoying, atrocious,
      baleful, baneful, biting, bitter, bleak, bothersome, calamitous,
      chafing, cheerless, comfortless, corroding, corrosive, corrupting,
      corruptive, counterproductive, cramping, cruel, damaging, deadly,
      deleterious, deplorable, depressing, depressive, detrimental, dire,
      disadvantageous, discomforting, dismal, dismaying, disquieting,
      disserviceable, distressful, disturbing, dolorific, dolorogenic,
      dolorous, dreary, excruciating, fretting, gnawing, grave, grievous,
      griping, harassing, hard, harmful, harrowing, harsh, heartbreaking,
      hurtful, hurting, injurious, joyless, lamentable, lethal, malefic,
      malevolent, malign, malignant, mischievous, mournful, moving,
      noisome, noxious, ominous, painful, paroxysmal, pathetic,
      pernicious, piercing, piteous, pitiable, plaguing, poignant,
      poisonous, prejudicial, pungent, racking, regrettable, rueful, sad,
      saddening, scatheful, severe, sharp, shooting, sore, sorrowful,
      spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, stabbing, stinging, tormenting,
      torturous, touching, toxic, troublesome, uncomfortable,
      unfortunate, upsetting, venenate, veneniferous, venenous, venomous,
      vicious, virulent, woebegone, woeful, worrisome, worrying,
      wretched

    

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