distraught.

Extremely upset and unable to maintain ordinary calm or focus.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a distraught relative
• visibly distraught
• distraught with worry

On the page

Distraught with worry, she gave the dispatcher the wrong street number.

The missing boy’s distraught brother waited beside the search map.

He was distraught, yet he kept answering the rescuers’ questions.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. Often tied to loss, frightening news, or uncertainty about a loved one; distress is not necessarily fear. Gradable with more/most; no inflectional endings normally needed.