distressed, ppl. a.
(dɪˈstrɛst, poet. -ˈɛsɪd)
Also 6–9 distrest.
[f. prec. + -ed1.]
a. Afflicted with pain or trouble; sorely troubled; in sore straits. Applied spec. to a person living in impoverished circumstances.
| 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 219 Bitter teares, which copiouslie..fell from my distressed eies. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. §12 That poore distressed woman commyng vnto Christ. 1601 Cornwallyes Disc. Seneca (1631) 43 To heare the distresseds petitions. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 51 Giving comfort to our distressed bodies. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. ii. 32 This distressed ship's crew. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 64 We..compassionate the distressed. 1838 Thirlwall Greece IV. 311 His distrest countrymen. 1844 C. Ridley Let. (1958) xv. 180 Little round mats..which she works at all the evening as if she were a distressed gentlewoman. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. vi. (1880) 89 Invitations to the distressed Flemish artizans to come over and settle in England. 1932 R. Lehmann Invit. Waltz iii iv. 202 It's all right, Aunt Sybil, I swear. Don't look so like a distressed gentlewoman. 1935 E. Bowen House in Paris i. i. 19 A ‘distressed lady’..jotting down what she spent. 1967 Daily Mail 17 Nov. 10/1 A field on the other side of Oxfordshire belonging to the Distressed Gentlefolks Aid Association. 1971 Daily Tel. 16 July 7/4 Distressed gentlefolk, daughters of a Harley Street surgeon whose legacy..could not or would not foresee inflation and a dearth of husbands. |
b. Of actions or conditions: Pertaining to or showing distress; in straits, sorely straitened. distressed area, a region where there is much unemployment.
| c 1592 Bacon Confer. Pleasure (1870) 22 Consider how benigne eare and correspondence she gaue to the distressed requestes of that king. 1625–49 Declar. of Chas. I, App. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 1 The distressed extremities of Our dearest Uncle the King of Denmark. 1754 Mrs. Delany Let. to Mrs. Dewes 16 May, It would be unkind in me to leave her in the distrest way she is in. 1785 J. Trusler Modern Times I. 168 Their poverty and distressed situation. 1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Ind. Inquiry) i. ii. 20 The continued depression of these industries entails the unemployment, on a large scale, of many..workers..and raises acute problems in a number of distressed areas. 1936 Discovery Nov. 355/2 The development of newer industries is vital to the recovery of our distressed areas, which remain the one black spot in the otherwise remarkable position of Great Britain. 1942 Times Weekly 2 Dec. 15 If their 400 hat factories became derelict they would be a distressed area. |
c. Upon which a distress is levied.
| 1896 Westm. Gaz. 24 June 3/1 The Government had never said they could discriminate between land distressed and land not distressed. |
d. Of furniture: see quot. 1940. Also applied to decorative materials and paintings. orig. U.S.
| 1940 J. Judson What Every Woman should know about Furniture 33 If you're a real antique lover you can even buy pieces with ‘distressed’ finish—that is, with simulated marks of age and wear. 1966 Daily Tel. 4 Oct. 13/5 ‘We're using a lot of distressed furniture,’ said the American designer solemnly... The current vogue in America is for furniture that has been bashed or scarred to make it look like English antique. 1967 Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. 23 (Advt.), Traditional lamps..rendered in..distressed wood finishes. 1967 L. J. Braun Cat who ate Danish Modern ii. 15 A sofa covered in distressed pigskin, like the hides of retired footballs. 1970 K. Benton Sole Agent xi. 125 The rusty gleam of panels of ‘distressed’ mirror in a pair of double doors. 1970 Cabinet Maker & Retail Furnisher 16 Oct. 129/1 Heavily-distressed oak lowboy..has 12 full-working drawers with antiqued brass handles. 1984 Times 6 Mar. 10 (caption) Antiqued, toughened and distressed leathers give new interest to the uppers. |
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▸ a. Of a business or company: experiencing financial difficulty; near bankruptcy.
| 1866 Times 9 May 12/1 The leading banks..vehemently shut out even the smallest applications of any of the distressed companies for momentary assistance. 1933 Jrnl. Business Univ. Chicago 6 87, I make no allowance for government aid to distressed companies in the next panic. 1960 Jrnl. Insurance 27 100 Extra-statutory measures for the purpose of pulling distressed companies through the depression. 2006 Scotsman (Nexis) 9 Feb. 33 Volvere—which specialises in forcing turnarounds of small, distressed firms—has been assessing whether the group has a future. |
b. orig. U.S. a. Of stock, property, or other assets: offered for sale at a low price due to liquidation, insolvency, or foreclosure.
| 1899 Chicago Daily Tribune 29 Dec. 6 If the relief of distressed stock gamblers alone were contemplated nobody outside of Wall street would defend the proposition. 1928 Kalends of Waverly Press Mar. 20/2 A man who loses his property because of lack of funds is said to be ‘in distress’ and the property is called ‘distressed property’. 1964 Amer. Econ. Rev. 54 410 The sale of distressed assets..is likely to be relatively disadvantageous to the selling firms. 1990 Furrow Mar. 31/2 I'd go ahead and buy a distressed property just to keep outsiders from latching onto the farm. 2005 Austral. Financial Rev. 4 July 22/1 The best-performing hedge funds have been those investing in distressed securities, emerging markets, and event-driven special situations. |
b. Of merchandise: offered for sale at a discount, typically as a result of being damaged, unwanted, or discontinued.
| 1921 N.Y. Times 19 Aug. 18/1 You may be on the watch for telegrams from us offering such distressed merchandise during the next few months. 1964 J. D. MacDonald Quick Red Fox viii. 88 A raging collection of phone solicitors, speculators in distressed merchandise, independent jewelry salesmen. 1989 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 26 Aug. 9 a ‘We've had no complaints whatsoever from customers about the sale.’ Carafiol added that damaged or distressed items were so marked. 2001 Sunday Business (Nexis) 25 Mar. 20 [The company] ekes out a margin on discounted, distressed product that other companies..have not been not able to sell for themselves. |