distressed

comparative more distressed · superlative most distressed

1. Anxious or uneasy.

   She is distressed because she can't find her keys.

   3 more examples

   Oh that thou wer't not, poore distreſſed ſoule.

   c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]

   Wee are troubled on euery side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despaire,

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 4:8

   Now, I saw, upon a time, when he was walking in the fields, that he was, as he was wont, reading in his book, and greatly distressed in his mind; and, as he read, he burst out, as he had done before, crying, "What shall I do to be saved?"

   1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: distraught, heartsore, pained, unglued, agonised/agonized, tormented, tortured

2. usuallyDamaged.
3. Offered for sale after foreclosure.
4. usuallyFaded or abused in order to appear old, or antique.

   Lawyers for Hirst accepted that his works had on occasion “been made to look older or distressed”.

   2024 March 19, Maeve McClenaghan, “Damien Hirst formaldehyde animal works dated to 1990s were made in 2017”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   1 more example

   Distressed jeans bear all the signs of exertion, while the consumer never has to lift a finger. What could be more luxurious than that?

   2022, Carolyn Purnell, Blue Jeans, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 44

5. businessExperiencing financial or operational distress, default, or bankruptcy.

   distressed debt

   3 more examples

   Funds that buy “distressed” debt, which typically yields ten percentage points or more over Treasuries, are becoming familiar villains.

   2019 November 7, “Distressed debt funds are waiting for a downturn”, in The Economist, →ISSN

   Sam Zell called himself “the Grave Dancer”, even though, as he explained, his penchant for buying distressed assets “wasn’t so much dancing on graves as …raising the dead”.

   2023 May 25, “What properties would Sam Zell invest in next?”, in The Economist, →ISSN

   One multibillion-dollar firm that specialises in distressed debt called X's debt “uninvestable”.

   2023 December 16, “Musk told lenders they would not lose money on Twitter deal”, in FT Weekend (Companies & Markets section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of distress