distraught means deeply hurt, saddened, or worried; incapacitated by distress. It carries an Arena rating of 1483, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, distraught ranks #686 of 17,130 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,019 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,757 of 17,130 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,108 of 17,122 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
distraught is pronounced /dɪsˈtɹɔːt/.
Why “distraught” is a great word
A state of being profoundly agitated by grief, anxiety, or perplexity, as if the mind were pulled apart. From Middle English *distraught*, a blend of *distract* ("distracted") and *straught* ("stretched, distraught"), the latter being the past participle of *strecchen* ("to stretch"). Unlike "distracted," which suggests a temporary diversion of attention, or "agitated," which implies restless excitement, to be distraught is to be sundered by deeper anguish. It is the silent, wide-eyed stare upon receiving terrible news; the frantic, fruitless search through pockets for a lost key; the hands clutching at nothing because there is nothing left to hold—the self stretched so thin it becomes a translucence of pure distress.
Etymology
From Middle English distraught, blend of distract (“distracted”) and straught (“stretched, distraught”), past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”). Compare also bestraught, extraught, forstraught, etc. More at distract, stretch.
adj
- Deeply hurt, saddened, or worried; incapacitated by distress.e.g.“His distraught widow cried for days, feeling very alone.”
- Mad; insane.
Words closest in meaning
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