Synonyms for suffering
ˈsʌf ər ɪŋ, ˈsʌf rɪŋsuf·fer·ing

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sufferingadjective

   Synonyms:
   pain, in

2. sufferingadjective

   Experiencing pain.

   Synonyms:
   in, pain

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 2 votes

1. suffering

   Pain is the most general term of this group, including all the others; pain is a disturbing sensation from which nature revolts, resulting from some injurious external interference (as from a wound, a bruise, a harsh word, etc.), or from some lack of what one needs, craves, or cherishes (as, the pain of hunger or bereavement), or from some abnormal action of bodily or mental functions (as, the pains of disease, envy, or discontent). Suffering is one of the severer forms of pain. The prick of a needle causes pain, but we should scarcely speak of it as suffering. Distress is too strong a word for little hurts, too feeble for the intensest suffering, but commonly applied to some continuous or prolonged trouble or need; as, the distress of a shipwrecked crew, or of a destitute family. Ache is lingering pain, more or less severe; pang, a pain short, sharp, intense, and perhaps repeated. We speak of the pangs of hunger or of remorse. Throe is a violent and thrilling pain. Paroxysm applies to an alternately recurring and receding pain, which comes as it were in waves; the paroxysm is the rising of the wave. Torment and torture are intense and terrible sufferings. Agony and anguish express the utmost pain or suffering of body or mind. Agony of body is that with which the system struggles; anguish that by which it is crushed.

   Synonyms:
   ache, agony, anguish, distress, pain, pang, paroxysm, throe, torment, torture, twinge, wo(e)

   Antonyms:
   comfort, delight, ease, enjoyment, peace, rapture, relief, solace

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. agony, suffering, excruciationnoun

   a state of acute pain

   Synonyms:
   hurt, distress, woe, excruciation, torture, crucifixion, agony, torment

   Antonyms:
   happy, untroubled

2. suffering, woenoun

   misery resulting from affliction

   Synonyms:
   agony, woe, distress, hurt, woefulness, excruciation

   Antonyms:
   happy, untroubled

3. distress, hurt, sufferingnoun

   psychological suffering

   "the death of his wife caused him great distress"

   Synonyms:
   hurt, injury, distress, detriment, harm, excruciation, damage, distraint, trauma, agony, scathe, woe

   Antonyms:
   untroubled, happy

4. suffering, hurtadjective

   feelings of mental or physical pain

   Synonyms:
   hurt, injury, distress, detriment, harm, excruciation, damage, agony, trauma, woe, scathe

   Antonyms:
   untroubled, happy

5. sufferingadjective

   troubled by pain or loss

   "suffering refugees"

   Synonyms:
   wretched, miserable

   Antonyms:
   untroubled, happy

6. miserable, suffering, wretchedadjective

   very unhappy; full of misery

   "he felt depressed and miserable"; "a message of hope for suffering humanity"; "wretched prisoners huddled in stinking cages"

   Synonyms:
   low-down, pitiable, pathetic, piteous, abject, vile, misfortunate, poor, pitiful, hapless, slimy, miserable, unworthy, deplorable, scurvy, scummy, worthless, ugly, woeful, measly, wretched, paltry, execrable, despicable, low

   Antonyms:
   untroubled, happy

Matched Categories

1. • Pain

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. sufferingnoun

   Synonyms:
   endurance, pain, distress, misery, sufferance, passion

2. sufferingnoun

   Synonyms:
   poverty, want

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sufferingnoun

   Synonyms:
   distress, agony, misery, pain, discomfort, torture, sufferance

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "suffering":

   sufferings, pain, misery, plight, distress, hardship, agony, suffer, anguish, experiencing, grief, hardships

How to pronounce suffering?

How to say suffering in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use suffering in a sentence?

1. Dale Baich:

   Midazolam, the first drug in the three-drug formula used by Oklahoma, is not capable of producing the necessary, deep anesthesia to insure that a prisoner will not experience severe pain, needless suffering and a lingering death during the lethal injection process.

2. Benjamin Disraeli:

   We live in an age when to be young and indifferent can no longer be synonymous. We must prepare for the coming hour. The claims of the Future are represented by suffering millions and the Youth of a Nation are the trustees of Posterity.

3. Ali Ibrahim:

   In the beginning, people liked Islamic State because they had been suffering, we too wanted change, but not in this destructive way. We see now that they are criminals, gangsters, destroyers.

4. Antonio Almeida:

   We see the patients, and we are very, very scared, you can't imagine the suffering of the pregnant women in Brazil.

5. Kayla Mueller:

   Helping the suffering was her life’s work, we worried about Kayla. We worried about what she was witnessing. The knowledge of their daughter's suffering under ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and her death has spurred the Prescott, Ariz., couple to pressure Washington and the UN to act now to protect Christians and stop the black-clad jihadist army.