as in difficult
full of or causing stress; making you feel worried or anxious
I had a stressful day at work today. a stressful situation
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Recent Examples of stressful
Life before her diagnosis had been stressful, uncertain, a season of not quite knowing where she was headed.
—
Ayren Jackson-Cannady, SELF, 29 May 2026
Stress Management Living with cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease can be stressful on its own.
—Lisa Rapaport, EverydayHealth.com, 29 May 2026
His most stressful moment of production was over almost immediately.
—Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2026
So basically the cinema was full every day, despite the bombing, despite the stressful situation, which means that the audience is willing to take this risk as well, for many reasons.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Ayren Jackson-Cannady, SELF, 29 May 2026
Stress Management Living with cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease can be stressful on its own.
—Lisa Rapaport, EverydayHealth.com, 29 May 2026
His most stressful moment of production was over almost immediately.
—Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2026
So basically the cinema was full every day, despite the bombing, despite the stressful situation, which means that the audience is willing to take this risk as well, for many reasons.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stressful
Adjective
-
That was so tragic, so difficult for Prince William and Prince Harry which has stayed with them.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
31 May 2026
-
Every business leader waiting for a difficult market to come around should pay attention to what happened in Seoul.—
Bill Schiffmiller,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Adjective
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Management has partly attributed the membership slowdown to tougher comparisons from a year earlier, but there’s more to the story.—
Paulina Likos,
CNBC,
28 May 2026
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The California Assembly on Thursday overwhelming voted in favor of a bill that would prohibit children under 16 years old from having a social media account, setting up what is likely to continue to be a tough battle over the coming months.—
Stephen Hobbs,
Sacbee.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
More than half of the search-and-rescue workers who show up for the most trying missions are BUSARs.—
Paige Williams,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
-
And Modi and Xi have had a more trying relationship than either has had with Putin.—
Thomas Wright,
The Atlantic,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stressful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stressful. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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