Also means
anguish
Usage Note
Détresse conveys acute suffering, whether emotional or physical, and also appears in formal emergency contexts: signal de détresse means 'distress signal' (e.g. at sea or in aviation). The phrase en détresse ('in distress') is commonly heard in news reports, and navire en détresse describes a ship in difficulty.
Examples
"Elle appelait à l'aide dans la détresse."
Natural Translation
She was calling for help in distress.

Free starter pack
Building your French vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore French by topic