stress Meaning & Definition
What Does Stress Mean?
As a noun, stress means A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism. It is also used to mean Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions. As a verb, it means To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
Quick Facts About Stress
| Part of speech | noun, verb |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | //ˈstɹɛs// |
| Syllables | 1 |
| Synonyms | strain, emphasize and accentuate |
| Antonyms | destress, deemphasize and eustress |
| Plural | stresses |
| Verb forms | stresses, stressing, stressed |
Stress Definition (Noun)
- A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
- Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions.
- The internal distribution of force across a small boundary per unit area of that boundary (pressure) within a body. It causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by σ or τ.
- Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body.
- Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.
Go easy on him, he's been under a lot of stress lately.
- A suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound, word or word group by means of of loudness, duration or pitch; phonological prominence.
lexical stress
- The suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound by means of loudness and/or duration; phonological prominence phonetically achieved by means of dynamics as distinct from pitch.
- Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written).
- Obsolete form of distress.
- distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.
Stress as a Verb
- To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
- To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal).
- To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated.
- To emphasise (a syllable of a word).
“Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second.
- To emphasise (words in speaking).
- To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion.
I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence.
- ↑ Keil, R.M.K. (2004) Coping and stress: a conceptual analysis Journal of Advanced Nursing, 45(6), 659–665
Noun
- (Cause of) discomfort.
- Serious danger.
- An aversive state of stress to which a person cannot fully adapt.
- A seizing of property without legal process to force payment of a debt.
- The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction.
Noun
- The emphasis placed on a syllable of a word.
Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second.
- Emphasis placed on words in speaking.
Synonyms of Stress
Antonyms of Stress
Stress in a Sentence
Go easy on him, he's been under a lot of stress lately.
lexical stress
Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second.
“Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second.
I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence.
Word Forms & Grammar
stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)
stress (third-person singular simple present stresses, present participle stressing, simple past and past participle stressed)
Words That Rhyme With Stress
Origin of Stress
Origin 1: From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”).[1] This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”). Displaced native Old English swēġ (“accent, stress”), though strictly in the grammatical sense.
Origin 2: In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.
Stress Pronunciation
Stress is pronounced //ˈstɹɛs// and has 1 syllable.
Questions People Ask About Stress
Is stress a noun or a verb?
Stress is mainly used as a noun, but it can also be used as a verb.
What is another word for stress?
You can replace stress with words such as strain, emphasize and accentuate. See the full list of stress synonyms and antonyms.
What is the opposite of stress?
Antonyms of stress include destress, deemphasize and eustress.
What is the plural of stress?
The plural of stress is stresses.
What is the past tense of stress?
The past tense of stress is stressed. The present participle is stressing.