Which to use
“distress” is a noun and “distressed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,675
- “distress” frequency rank
- #13,501
- “distressed” frequency rank
- 21176
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | distress | distressed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. | Anxious or uneasy. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set distress and distressed apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: distress is /dɪˈstɹɛs/ while distressed is /dɪˈstɹɛst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “distress” sits inside “distressed”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
distress is recorded at frequency rank #7,675, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈstɹɛs/. distressed is at rank #13,501, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈstɹɛst/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 21176, this pair ranks #425,803 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of distress vs distressed
Shared letters: deirst. Private to "distress": -. Private to "distressed": -.
"distress" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "distressed" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- distress ← ddistress · disrtess · disstress · disterss · distres · distrress · distrses · disttress
- distressed ← ddistressed · disrtessed · disstressed · disterssed · distresed · distresesd · distressde · distressedd
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "distress" and "distressed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "distress" or "distressed"?
Remembering distress vs distressed
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “distress”; for an adjective, it's “distressed”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “distress” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable