Word of the day · 28 May 2026
stress
/strɛs/
noun
Mental or physical strain from pressure; also emphasis in speech or force on a material.
In a sentence
- Deadline stress showed in short sleep and short tempers.
- Place the stress on the second syllable of the word.
- Engineers checked stress on the bridge cables after the storm.
In an image
Origin
From Latin stringere (to draw tight); Middle English stress and distress share that tightening root.
History
Engineers still measure stress as force on a beam. Medicine and daily talk borrowed the same tightness for worry, overload and bodily tension. Linguists use stress for the loud beat in a word. Search traffic spikes because the emotional sense is nearly universal, yet people still want a clean definition beside the technical ones.
Nearby words
strain · tension · pressure
Pressure the body and mind register when demands outrun ease.