Distraught means so upset that you can barely think straight. Distraught parents, utterly distraught, left distraught.
It is stronger than upset and describes visible loss of composure, which is why it belongs to news reports of accidents and missing people. It is not used lightly. Note the spelling, which is odd because the word is a blend of distract and straught, an old past participle of stretch — so distraught literally means pulled apart, which is a fair description of the state.
1adjectivedistraughtSo upset that you can barely think straight.
“The distraught mother searched the park for her missing child.”
synonyms: frantic, beside yourself
distraught is a state of extreme distress.
Also accepted in games: devastated
Middle English distraught blends distract with straught, the old past participle of stretch. The literal sense is pulled in two directions, which is exactly what distraction once meant.
Middle English
distraught
English, today
distraught
Built from
From Middle English distraught, blend of distract (“distracted”) and straught (“stretched, distraught”), past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”). Compare also bestraught, extraught, forstraught, etc. More at distract, stretch.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA