distraught
Americanadjective
-
distracted; deeply agitated.
-
mentally deranged; crazed.
adjective
-
distracted or agitated
-
rare mad
Other Word Forms
- distraughtly adverb
- overdistraught adjective
- undistraught adjective
Etymology
Origin of distraught
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English variant of obsolete distract “distracted,” by association with straught, old past participle of stretch; distract
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hilda witnesses the crime and is so distraught that her moral certitude temporarily deserts her.
Believers found themselves distraught at the thought of never hearing from their loved ones again.
From Literature
When she botched the final jump of her otherwise faultless short program, it was the shattering of her dream that left Glenn more distraught than the score that dropped her to 13th place.
From Los Angeles Times
But the next day people began arriving in dozens, then in droves, some from Trokorpe and nearby villages, disheveled, distraught, grown men sobbing like babies.
From Literature
A horrible moment for Diaz, who looked distraught as he was handed the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer by Fifa president Gianni Infantino at the end of the game.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
