under a lot of stress
24
2.8
- idiom
:
estresado
- After the deadline was moved up, I found myself under a lot of stress at work.
- under a lot of stress lately
- under a lot of stress at work
- think you're under a lot of stress
And I was under a lot of stress.
- And I was under a lot of stress.
Examples
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She's been under a lot of stress lately.
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Bailey, has your brother been under a lot of stress lately?
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You were under a lot of stress.
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Well, the year before that, I was under a lot of stress after my accident.
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I have been under a lot of stress lately.
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Have you been under a lot of stress lately?
Fiction book (1999) -
And people say things and do things when they're under a lot of stress and pressure.
-
Look, I realize you're under a lot of stress, so I wanted to personally thank you for doing this on such short notice.
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She's a great kid, Jack, but you've both been under a lot of stress lately.
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Dr. Klein, Raymond, you're under a lot of stress.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
6
7.4
Feeling strong pressure to finish something because of a deadline
2
5.1
Feeling too much stress and unable to cope
1
5.3
Having more work, duties, or worry than you can handle
Feeling worried and unable to relax because of pressure
Antonyms
How Stressed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'experiencing significant psychological pressure' is directly and compositionally derived from 'under' (in a state of), 'a lot of' (a large amount), and 'stress' (psychological pressure). This construction mirrors common patterns like 'under pressure' and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should understand it.
Etymology
The phrase under a lot of stress gives the image of a heavy weight pressing down on someone, with under showing being below and stress meaning pressure. So when we say someone is under a lot of stress, we mean they are 'feeling a lot of pressure' from work or life.