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stressful

stressful

167 2.8
Making you feel very worried or nervous
  • adjective
  • /ˈstrɛs.fəl/
translation icon : estresante
  • But there are few things as stressful as stage fright or performance anxiety.
  • a stressful situation
  • a stressful job
  • a stressful event

Oh, they just had a stressful day at work.

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Examples

  • Wow, what a stressful day, huh?

  • Over half had experienced three or more stressful life events in the past three years.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Oh, they just had a stressful day at work.

  • Today is the most stressful day of my life.

  • And life is stressful for lots of people.

  • Today has been one of the most stressful days of my life so far.

  • How do people deal with a stressful changing environment?

  • So, you know, that was a stressful time in my life.

  • It's been a long and stressful day.

  • Today is the most stressful day of my life.

Synonyms

under a lot of stress
vsstressful
24 2.8

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

means causing worry or making others feel nervous instead of being experienced
nerve-racking
vsstressful
  • Informal
20 5.0

Makes you feel very worried and tense

causes worry or tension but not always extreme
nerve-wracking
vsstressful
  • Informal
18 6.1

Causes a lot of worry and stress

causes worry or nervousness but can be less severe
distressful
vsstressful
1 6.2

Making someone feel very worried or upset

causes nervous tension rather than general upset
trying
vsstressful
1 5.1

Hard to deal with and making people feel tired or annoyed

causes worry and nervous anxiety rather than mere annoyance
overburdensome
vsstressful
  • Specialized
7.8

Too difficult or expensive for someone to manage easily

focuses on causing worry or nervous tension, not manageability

Antonyms

735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

22 2.6

Being calm and relaxed and not easily upset

How Stressful

overwhelming
423 4.4
stressful
167 2.8
hectic
65 3.9
calm
735 1.0
uneventful
22 3.7

Surface Forms

stressful positive
stressfuller comparative
stressfullest superlative

Morphology

stressful = stress (transparent) = stress + ful

Standard adjective formation from the noun 'stress' with suffix '-ful' meaning 'full of or causing stress', so the meaning is directly derived and obvious to learners.

Etymology

Stressful comes from stress, which originally meant 'pressure' or 'tightness', and the ending -ful, which means 'full of'. So stressful is 'full of pressure', something that causes worry or tension.