stressful

adjective

stress·​ful ˈstres-fəl 

: full of or tending to induce stress

stressfully

ˈstres-fə-lē 

adverb

Examples of stressful in a Sentence

I had a stressful day at work today.

Recent Examples on the Web

The right expertise can help transform tax planning from a stressful obligation into a seamless, cost-saving process. —Gary Galstyan, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025

Some of the humor has a barbed, geopolitical aim in a war for the world’s hearts and minds — see the Chinese government’s fusillade of memes — but political scientists say that, for many people, humor is a natural response to stressful times. —Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2025

Also, in the stressful game Cyberpunk 2077, the Radeon RX 9070 scored just 18% better than the RTX 5060 Ti with the game set to render at 4K. —PC Magazine, 19 Apr. 2025

And certain lifestyle factors that put the body in a stressful state can potentially have a similar impact, Dr. Brauer says (more on this to come). —Erica Sloan, SELF, 18 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stressful

• distressful
• successful
• unsuccessful

Kids Definition

stressful

adjective

stress·​ful ˈstres-fəl 

: full of or tending to cause stress

stressfully

-fə-lē 

adverb

Medical Definition

stressful

adjective

stress·​ful ˈstres-fəl 

: full of or subject to stress

stressful situations

stressfully

-fə-lē 

adverb