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
On a special episode (first released on July 17, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: Hospitals are typically stressful places.
—
Dana Taylor, USA Today, 17 July 2025
Airplanes are stressful, especially for people who use wheelchairs.
—Joseph Shapiro, NPR, 17 July 2025
The moment proved to be very stressful for Fleetwood, who had just made a bogey on the previous hole.
—Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 July 2025
The season sees Wyle's Dr. Robby shoulder the brunt of responsibility as his ER endures a stressful day, capped off with a mass casualty event that sees resources stretched thin.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Dana Taylor, USA Today, 17 July 2025
Airplanes are stressful, especially for people who use wheelchairs.
—Joseph Shapiro, NPR, 17 July 2025
The moment proved to be very stressful for Fleetwood, who had just made a bogey on the previous hole.
—Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 July 2025
The season sees Wyle's Dr. Robby shoulder the brunt of responsibility as his ER endures a stressful day, capped off with a mass casualty event that sees resources stretched thin.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for stressful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stressful
Adjective
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Some students may face family challenges that affect their ability to get to school, and some changes to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test, such as its move to online instead of paper form, could be difficult for students who only access computers at school, Maldonado said.—
Keri Heath,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
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Diseases that are difficult to manage without early intervention, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer, place a significant burden on health care budgets and patient quality of life.—
Kim Praitano,
Sun Sentinel,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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Lamont, who had proposed boosting special education aid by $40 million — but not until July 2026 — countered that the state budget already was on pace to exceed the budget cap and that legislators needed to make tough choices and trim spending.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
2 Aug. 2025
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Stage eight on Saturday will mark the start of a tough weekend of reckoning for the GC riders in the mountains to conclude the Tour.—
Jessica Hopkins,
New York Times,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But agricultural leaders see this year as one of the industry’s most trying periods, beset by economic and political factors that could significantly reduce production.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
25 June 2025
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Doing the right thing is the right way to inoculate your business against exogenous events, while positioning your brand for sustainable growth in even the most trying of times.—
Michael Ringman,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stressful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stressful. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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