First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
distraught
adjective dis·traught \di-ˈstrȯt\
: very upset : so upset that you are not able to think clearly or behave normally
Full Definition of DISTRAUGHT
1
: agitated with doubt or mental conflict or pain <distraught mourners>
2
— dis·traught·ly adverb
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Examples of DISTRAUGHT
- Of particular concern are phony contractors, who knock on the doors of distraught homeowners and offer to repair damaged roofs or remove fallen trees. —Natalie Rodriguez, This Old House, March 2006
- The night before the story broke, West sat down for a two-hour interview with the Spokane-Review and left so distraught that its editor, Steven Smith, asked the police chief to check on him. —Unmesh Kher, Time, 23 May 2005
- Captured by news photographers under the direction of his manager Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's turn in the barber's chair was a public ceremony: a symbolic shearing, not only of Elvis—who would return from the service a meek semblance of himself, a mama's boy without a mama (his distraught mother, Gladys, died while he was stationed at Fort Hood, soon to depart for Germany)—but of rock 'n' roll itself. —James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, November 2000
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Origin of DISTRAUGHT
Middle English, modification of Latin distractus (see 2distract)
Related to DISTRAUGHT
- Synonyms
- agitated, delirious, distracted, distrait, frantic, frenzied, hysterical (also hysteric)
Other Psychology Terms
Rhymes with DISTRAUGHT
DISTRAUGHT Defined for Kids
distraught
adjective dis·traught \di-ˈstrȯt\
Definition of DISTRAUGHT for Kids
: very upset
Learn More About DISTRAUGHT
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