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stress

stress

704 2.8
A feeling of pressure and worry because of difficult situations
  • noun
  • /strɛs/
translation icon : estrés
  • They should help you deal with the stress that life brings.
  • stress levels
  • perceived stress
  • coping with stress

There is a difference between acute stress and chronic stress.

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Examples

  • The stress of this job and the judgment of my mother.

  • You were under a lot of stress.

  • What role does emotional stress play on our gut health?

  • There is a difference between acute stress and chronic stress.

  • She's been under a lot of stress lately.

  • NHS staff sickness absence levels increased last year, with anxiety, stress, and depression becoming a growing problem.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Moreover, university students are undoubtedly bound to go through stress during their educational careers.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Many people experience stress when facing deadlines at work.

  • She found it hard to relax after a week filled with stress from exams.

  • Practicing mindfulness can help reduce stress and promote mental well-being.

Synonyms

pressure
vsstress
3.1

A strong feeling of stress from difficult demands

is the felt mental or emotional reaction that results from such demands
tension
vsstress
509 3.2

A feeling of nervousness and anger between people or inside a person

focuses on internal emotional difficulty rather than mainly interpersonal conflict
strain
vsstress
  • Literature
48 3.3

A state of worry or nervousness caused by difficult situations

covers a wider range of mental and emotional difficulty from hard situations
tenseness
vsstress
1 4.9

A feeling of nervous worry and stress

is broader, applying to many kinds of emotional or mental difficulty
mental strain
vsstress
1 5.1

A feeling of worry and tiredness after thinking for a long time

includes those cases but also other emotional reactions to demanding situations

Idioms

People feel very tense and worried because many difficult things are happening

Compounds

stress test
  • Specialized
8 4.4

A test that checks how something works under pressure or bad conditions

stress fracture
  • Specialized
5 4.6

A small crack in a bone caused by doing the same movement again and again

2 4.4

A long-lasting problem in the mind after a very frightening event that causes flashbacks, strong fear, and avoidance of reminders

A thing or activity that helps you feel less tense

to stress test
  • Specialized
2 3.9

To put something under heavy load to see how it works

stress mark
  • Specialized
1 5.8

A small sign above a syllable that shows which part to say more strongly

stress incontinence
  • Specialized
1 6.2

Leak urine during actions that put pressure on the bladder, like coughing, laughing, or lifting

8.8

A strong feeling of worry that makes it hard to breathe or think

mechanical stress
  • Specialized
5.1

Force inside a material that acts on each small part because of outside forces

initial stress
  • Specialized
5.6

A strong sound on the first syllable of a word

sentence stress
  • Specialized
3.9

Emphasis on some words or syllables in speech that changes rhythm and meaning

word stress
  • Specialized
3.9

Emphasis on one syllable when you say a word with more than one syllable

How Stressed

breakdown
  • Informal
120 3.9
distress
240 3.6
stress
704 2.8
anxiety
423 3.5
unease
19 4.4

Surface Forms

stress singular
stresses plural

Etymology

Stress comes from an old French word estresse meaning 'tightness' and the Latin root stringere meaning 'to draw tight'. So mental stress is like a 'pressure' on your mind that makes you feel tense or worried.