Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stressful

/ˈstɹɛsfəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.88 in modern English

Syllables: stress-ful
IPA: /ˈstɹɛsfəl/

12

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Irritating; causing stress.

adj

Mentally taxing.

Example Sentences

"I have always argued that change becomes stressful and overwhelming only when you've lost any sense of the constancy of your life. You need firm ground to stand on. From there, you can deal with that change."
"Whether you need to recover from a stressful day, a strenuous workout or even an injury or surgery, restorative yoga may be just the thing for you."

Etymology

From stress + -ful.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: stress

Inflected Forms

more stressful (comparative) most stressful (superlative)

Derived Forms

nonstressful overstressful stressfully stressfulness unstressful

Frequently Paired Words

stress stressed

Synonyms

trying nerve-racking nerve-wracking

Rhymes With

successful unsuccessful

Questions

How do you pronounce stressful?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈstɹɛsfəl/.
What does stressful mean?: Irritating; causing stress.
Where does stressful come from?: From stress + -ful.

How to pronounce stressful

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “stressful”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈstɹɛsfəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “stressful”.
Repeat and practice — Say “stressful” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.