INDEX:
1. feeling upset
2. to make someone feel upset
3. to become upset
4. making you feel upset
5. getting upset easily
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ SAD
↑ OFFEND
↑ CRITICIZE
↑ INSULT
↑ CRY
◆◆◆
1. feeling upset
▷ upset /ʌpˈset/ [adjective not before noun]
unhappy because something very unpleasant or disappointing has happened, so that you feel shocked or you want to cry :
▪ Miss Hurley is too upset to speak to anyone at the moment.
▪ The children were very upset when we told them that we wouldn’t be going to Disneyland.
upset about
▪ She’s still upset about her uncle’s death.
upset (that)
▪ The organizers were upset that so few people visited the exhibition.
▷ hurt /hɜːʳt/ [adjective not before noun]
upset and shocked because someone has been unkind to you, especially someone that you trusted and thought was a friend :
▪ Bill felt very hurt when he realized she had lied to him.
hurt (that)
▪ Gretta was really hurt that none of her friends came to visit her in the hospital.
deeply hurt
extremely hurt
▪ Jackson was said to be ‘deeply hurt’ by the newspaper reports about him.
hurt [uncountable noun]
▪ Sylvie could still remember the hurt of being treated like an outsider.
▷ distressed /dɪˈstrest/ [adjective]
extremely upset and shocked about something very unpleasant that has happened, so that you cry or become confused :
▪ Herman becomes distressed when anyone asks him about the accident.
▪ The airport was full of distressed relatives waiting for news of the crash.
distressed by/about/at
▪ Everyone in the office was distressed by Maggie’s unexpected death.
▪ Nelson’s supporters were distressed about his use of racial slurs.
distressed that
▪ I was crying all the time, and my mother was distressed that she could do nothing to comfort me.
distressed to hear/learn/see/find etc
▪ We were all distressed to hear that Stuart had been attacked the night before.
deeply distressed
extremely distressed
▪ She was deeply distressed to see the animal in so much pain.
distress [uncountable noun]
▪ Mr and Mrs Roberts spoke with obvious distress about their missing daughter.
▷ distraught /dɪˈstrɔːt/ [adjective]
extremely upset, usually because you are very worried about something, so that you cry a lot or seem confused :
▪ He could see that I was distraught, but he still kept asking me questions.
▪ The distraught parents of the missing baby have made a public appeal for her return.
distraught at/over/about
▪ We were all distraught about the accident, but Mama was the most upset.
▪ Benson was so distraught over the breakup of his marriage that he committed suicide.
distraught that
▪ Casey was totally distraught that they were throwing him out of school.
▷ be in a state /biː ɪn ə ˈsteɪt/ [verb phrase] British informal
to be so upset that you cannot stop crying or control your emotions :
▪ Stephan called me in a state, saying he was thinking of killing himself.
▪ The children were in such a state that the police couldn’t question them.
be in an awful/terrible/shocking etc state
▪ He’s been in a terrible state since Julie left him.
2. to make someone feel upset
▷ upset /ʌpˈset/ [transitive verb]
▪ I’m sorry if I upset you - I didn’t mean to.
▪ ‘Why’s he crying?’ ‘I don’t know - something must have upset him.’
▪ Try not to upset your father. He’s had a hard day.
it upsets somebody to see/hear/think etc
▪ It still upsets me to think about my parents’ divorce.
what upsets somebody is
▪ What upsets me most is the way she lied to me.
▷ hurt /hɜːʳt/ [transitive verb]
to make someone feel upset by being unkind to them or not thinking enough about their feelings, especially someone who trusts you and thinks you are their friend :
▪ I would never do anything to hurt her.
▪ The fact that his parents take little interest in his life hurts him more than he admits.
it hurts somebody to see/hear/learn etc
▪ It hurts me to think that you still don’t trust me.
▷ hurt somebody’s feelings /ˌhɜːʳt somebodyˈs ˈfiːlɪŋz/ [verb phrase]
to make someone feel upset or offended by something that you say or do, often unintentionally :
▪ I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I was just being honest.
▪ Don’t tell your sister what William said - you’ll only hurt her feelings.
▪ I didn’t tell him I don’t like his haircut - I don’t want to hurt his feelings.
▷ distress /dɪˈstres/ [transitive verb] formal
to make someone feel extremely upset or worried :
▪ The number of young men who called asking for Marie distressed her mother.
it distresses somebody to see/hear etc
▪ It distressed him to see Susie cry.
3. to become upset
▷ get upset /ˌget ʌpˈset/ [verb phrase]
▪ I get upset when I see people being cruel to animals.
▪ At the slightest mention of her ex-husband’s name she gets upset.
get upset about
▪ It was an awful thing for him to say, but there’s no point in getting upset about it.
▷ get worked up /get ˌwɜːʳkt ˈʌp/ [verb phrase] informal
to become very upset or angry, so that you think things are worse than they really are :
▪ I’ll tell you what he said, but promise you won’t get worked up.
get worked up about/over
▪ It’s not worth getting worked up about. Anyone can make a mistake.
get (yourself) all worked up
▪ If there’s nothing you can do, why get yourself all worked up, honey?
▷ take something to heart /ˌteɪk something tə ˈhɑːʳt/ [verb phrase]
to be more upset by what someone says than they intended you to be :
▪ Don’t take anything he said to heart - he was drunk.
▪ Brian is a very sensitive kind of person and he takes criticism very much to heart.
▷ get het up /get ˌhet ˈʌp/ [verb phrase] especially British, informal
to become very upset about something in a way that other people think is unnecessary :
▪ There’s no need to get so het up - it’s only a driving test!
4. making you feel upset
▷ upsetting /ʌpˈsetɪŋ/ [adjective]
▪ She can’t talk about her son’s death - she finds it too upsetting.
▪ Many adults manage to forget their more upsetting childhood experiences.
it is upsetting to do something
▪ It was upsetting to have to say goodbye so soon.
▷ distressing /dɪˈstresɪŋ/ [adjective]
making you feel extremely upset or worried :
▪ U.N. officials have called the recent arrest of political opponents ‘distressing.’
▪ Being in a strange city with no money was an extremely distressing situation.
▷ painful /ˈpeɪnf ə l/ [adjective]
a painful experience or memory makes you feel extremely upset and sad :
▪ It’s five years since we separated, but I still find the memories quite painful.
▪ For those involved, the scandal has been a very painful experience.
painful to
▪ Colin’s death is painful to me and everyone who knew him.
it is painful to see/hear etc
▪ It was so painful to see how frail she had become in just a few months.
▷ harrowing /ˈhærəʊɪŋ/ [adjective]
an experience or event that is harrowing makes you feel extremely upset because it is very frightening or shocking :
▪ The film contained harrowing scenes of starving children.
▪ After a harrowing bus ride through the mountains, we arrived at the port of Heraklion.
▷ traumatic /trɔːˈmætɪk/ [adjective]
an experience or event that is traumatic makes you feel so upset that it affects the way you think or behave for a very long time :
▪ Len’s slow and painful death was traumatic for the entire family.
▪ Learning to swim was the most traumatic experience of my childhood.
5. getting upset easily
▷ sensitive /ˈsensɪtɪv, ˈsensətɪv/ [adjective]
▪ My brother pretends he’s tough, but he’s actually pretty sensitive.
sensitive about
▪ I didn’t realize that Lee was so sensitive about her family.
sensitive to criticism
▪ If you are a public figure you can’t afford to be too sensitive to criticism.
▷ oversensitive/overly sensitive /ˌəʊvəˈsensɪtɪv◂, ˌəʊvəˈsensətɪv◂, ˌəʊvəʳli ˈsensə̇tɪv/ [adjective]
use this about someone who you think gets upset too easily :
▪ When I complain about the mean things he says, he just tells me I’m being oversensitive.
▪ Overly sensitive children have trouble making friends with other children.