suffering Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a state of acute pain
    excruciation; agony.
  2. noun misery resulting from affliction
    woe.
  3. noun psychological suffering
    distress; hurt.
    • the death of his wife caused him great distress
  4. noun feelings of mental or physical pain
    hurt.
  5. verb undergo or be subjected to
    suffer; endure.
    • He suffered the penalty
    • Many saints suffered martyrdom
  6. verb undergo (as of injuries and illnesses)
    suffer; sustain; have; get.
    • She suffered a fracture in the accident
    • He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars
    • She got a bruise on her leg
    • He got his arm broken in the scuffle
  7. verb experience (emotional) pain
    suffer.
    • Every time her husband gets drunk, she suffers
  8. verb put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    stomach; brook; support; put up; tolerate; bear; abide; endure; stick out; suffer; digest; stand.
    • I cannot bear his constant criticism
    • The new secretary had to endure a lot of unprofessional remarks
    • he learned to tolerate the heat
    • She stuck out two years in a miserable marriage
  9. verb get worse
    suffer.
    • His grades suffered
  10. verb feel pain or be in pain
    suffer; hurt.
  11. verb feel physical pain
    ache; suffer; hurt.
    • Were you hurting after the accident?
  12. verb feel unwell or uncomfortable
    suffer.
    • She is suffering from the hot weather
  13. verb be given to
    suffer.
    • She suffers from a tendency to talk too much
  14. verb undergo or suffer
    meet; suffer.
    • meet a violent death
    • suffer a terrible fate
  15. verb be set at a disadvantage
    suffer; lose.
    • This author really suffers in translation
  16. adjective satellite troubled by pain or loss
    • suffering refugees
  17. adjective satellite very unhappy; full of misery
    miserable; wretched.
    • he felt depressed and miserable
    • a message of hope for suffering humanity
    • wretched prisoners huddled in stinking cages

WordNet

Suf"fer*ing noun
Definitions
  1. The bearing of pain, inconvenience, or loss; pain endured; distress, loss, or injury incurred; as, sufferings by pain or sorrow; sufferings by want or by wrongs. "Souls in sufferings tried." Keble.
Suf"fer*ing adjective
Definitions
  1. Being in pain or grief; having loss, injury, distress, etc. -- Suf"fer*ing*ly, adv.

Webster 1913