What does suffering mean?
Definitions for suffering
ˈsʌf ər ɪŋ, ˈsʌf rɪŋsuf·fer·ing
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word suffering.
Princeton's WordNet
agony, suffering, excruciationnoun
a state of acute pain
suffering, woenoun
misery resulting from affliction
distress, hurt, sufferingnoun
psychological suffering
"the death of his wife caused him great distress"
suffering, hurtadjective
feelings of mental or physical pain
sufferingadjective
troubled by pain or loss
"suffering refugees"
miserable, suffering, wretchedadjective
very unhappy; full of misery
"he felt depressed and miserable"; "a message of hope for suffering humanity"; "wretched prisoners huddled in stinking cages"
Wiktionary
sufferingnoun
The condition of someone who suffers; a state of pain or distress.
sufferingadjective
Experiencing pain.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Sufferingnoun
Pain suffered.
Etymology: from suffer.
Rejoice in my sufferings for you. Col. i. 24.
With what strength, what steadiness of mind,
He triumphs in the midst of all his sufferings? Addison.We may hope the sufferings of innocent people, who have lived in that place which was the scene of rebellion, will secure from the like attempts. Addison.
It increased the smart of his present sufferings to compare them with his former happiness. Francis Atterbury.
Wikipedia
Suffering
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, may be an experience of unpleasantness or aversion, possibly associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence of affective phenomena. The opposite of suffering is pleasure or happiness. Suffering is often categorized as physical or mental. It may come in all degrees of intensity, from mild to intolerable. Factors of duration and frequency of occurrence usually compound that of intensity. Attitudes toward suffering may vary widely, in the sufferer or other people, according to how much it is regarded as avoidable or unavoidable, useful or useless, deserved or undeserved. Suffering occurs in the lives of sentient beings in numerous manners, often dramatically. As a result, many fields of human activity are concerned with some aspects of suffering. These aspects may include the nature of suffering, its processes, its origin and causes, its meaning and significance, its related personal, social, and cultural behaviors, its remedies, management, and uses.
ChatGPT
suffering
Suffering is the state or experience of enduring physical or psychological pain, distress, hardship, or discomfort. It can be caused by various factors such as illness, loss, or misfortune, and can be either long-term or short-term. Suffering is subjective and its intensity can vary depending on the individual's resilience, perception, and circumstances.
Webster Dictionary
Suffering
of Suffer
Sufferingnoun
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
Sufferingadjective
being in pain or grief; having loss, injury, distress, etc
Freebase
Suffering
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, is an experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence of affective phenomena. Suffering may be qualified as physical or mental. It may come in all degrees of intensity, from mild to intolerable. Factors of duration and frequency of occurrence usually compound that of intensity. Attitudes toward suffering may vary widely, in the sufferer or other people, according to how much it is regarded as avoidable or unavoidable, useful or useless, deserved or undeserved. Suffering occurs in the lives of sentient beings in numerous manners, and often dramatically. As a result, many fields of human activity are concerned, from their own points of view, with some aspects of suffering. These aspects may include the nature of suffering, its processes, its origin and causes, its meaning and significance, its related personal, social, and cultural behaviors, its remedies, management, and uses.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'suffering' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3660
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'suffering' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4126
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'suffering' in Nouns Frequency: #2392
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of suffering in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of suffering in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of suffering in a Sentence
The facts are clear: Women have been hit hardest by this recession and lackluster economic recovery. That's just a fact. Women are suffering more than men and by the way, African-Americans are suffering as well.
We nearly have 7,000 plants we're growing of different kinds and they're going to be used as the raw material to elaborate medications for three important clinical studies. One will be conducted by the National Cancer Institute for cancer patients; the second one is for patients suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy and will be conducted by the San Borja Arriarán Hospital. The third clinical study is for patients suffering from non-cancer related, chronic pain and conducted by the Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano.
One does not love a place the less for having suffered in it unless it has all been suffering, nothing but suffering.
There is no true love save in suffering, and in this world we have to choose either love, which is suffering, or happiness. Man is the more man -- that is, the more divine -- the greater his capacity for suffering, or rather, for anguish.
I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.
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Translations for suffering
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- معاناةArabic
- страданиеBulgarian
- སྡུག་བསྔལ་བརྒྱད།Tibetan Standard
- patimentCatalan, Valencian
- utrpení, trpícíCzech
- dioddefaintWelsh
- lidelseDanish
- leidend, LeidenGerman
- fukpekpeEwe
- βάσανοGreek
- suferoEsperanto
- sufrimiento, sufridoSpanish
- رنج کشیدنPersian
- kärsivä, tuskissaan oleva, kärsimysFinnish
- douleur, souffranceFrench
- sufrimentoGalician
- szenvedésHungarian
- þjáðurIcelandic
- sofferenzaItalian
- 苦しみ, 苦痛Japanese
- passionisLatin
- kentėjimas, kančiaLithuanian
- lidelseNorwegian
- lijdenDutch
- lidingNorwegian Nynorsk
- lidelseNorwegian
- cierpieniePolish
- sofrendo, sofrimentoPortuguese
- suferință, păsRomanian
- страданиеRussian
- दुःखSanskrit
- lidandeSwedish
- வேத்னைப்படுதல்Tamil
- khổVietnamese
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"suffering." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 10 Dec. 2023. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/suffering>.
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