English Reference
adjective

suffering

adj.
US /ˈsəfɝɪŋ/ UK /sˈʌfəɹɪŋ/ suf·fer·ing UK spelling sufferings

  1. 01 B2 Upper Intermediate

    feeling pain or going through a difficult time.

    experiencing physical or mental distress; often used in a predicative position or to describe a specific group.

    Simple

    The doctor visited the suffering patients in the emergency room.

    In context

    The government provided immediate financial aid to the suffering farmers whose crops were destroyed by the unseasonal frost.

The 89-year-old - one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs - is suffering from a rare blood condition.

BBC News· 17 Aug 2026

Azhari puts it more bluntly: “Students in Sudan are suffering.

UN News· 9 Aug 2026

By surface analysis, suffer + -ing.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Common
Updated