noun

1. (Cause of) discomfort.

2. Serious danger.

3. An aversive state of stress to which a person cannot fully adapt.

verb

1. To cause strain or anxiety to someone.

2. To retain someone’s property against the payment of a debt; to distrain.

3. To treat a new object to give it an appearance of age.

   “She distressed the new media cabinet so that it fit with the other furniture in the room.”

Synonyms: age, antique, patinate, anguish, harrow, martyr, tantalise, tantalize