Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DURESS
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pronounce
DURESS:
Say it "dur ESS."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Our word duress looks like during, duration, durable, and endure because they all trace back to the Latin durus, meaning "hard."
So do these two words: the semi-common word __durate, (meaning "stubborn"), and the rare, formal word __durate (meaning "hard and tough, in a physical or emotional way"). Could you recall those?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
"Duress" comes from a Latin word for "hard." In English, it's taken on lots of meanings over the years, like "roughness," "hardship," and "oppression."
Here's the most common meaning of "duress" today. If you do something under duress, you do it in a situation where you're forced to do it because someone has threatened to hurt you if you don't.
Less commonly, "duress" can mean "serious or intense stress." For example, sports writers often describe professional athletes performing well under duress. It doesn't mean someone's pointing a gun at them--just that they're playing hard while the cameras are rolling, the stakes are high, and they're pushing their bodies to (or past) their limits.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun, the uncountable kind: "He confessed only under duress;" "The team performed well under duress."
Other forms:
None are common.
how to use it:
Pick the formal, serious, semi-common word "duress" when you want to emphasize how someone can't really be held responsible for their actions--because they performed them while obeying someone who could seriously harm them.
Say that someone did something (or said something) under duress. "Yes, she confessed to the crime, but only under duress: the police had been questioning her for nearly twenty-four hours, denying her food and sleep."
Or, to use the looser usage, say that someone lives, works, or gets things done under duress. Here's the New York Times: "'Crime and Punishment' was written under extreme financial duress."
examples:
"You gave the Beiderman cookies. From your own personal stash. Willingly. Not under duress."
— Karina Yan Glaser, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, 2017
"[The fat bears] are also, like all of us, under duress. Global warming is having a yet-unknown effect on their salmon population."
— Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon, 3 October 2020
has this page helped you understand "duress"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "duress" without saying "threat" or "force."
try it out:
A writer for Slate noted:
"Despite how effortless athletes make their performances look on the field, their bodies are constantly under duress, constantly on the verge of the next injury, often maximizing short-term glory at the expense of longer-term health and well-being."
Talk about what this writer means. In addition to athletes, can you think of another type of professional whose body (or mind) is always under duress? How?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Crossword Clues: Defining by Rhyming!
Check out the given term, and try to complete the definition by supplying a missing rhyming word. For example, if I give you "bevy = _ _ _ _ herd," then you give me "bird," because a bevy is a bird herd. To peek at the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
bezel = trim _ _ _
review this word:
A. LIGHT and PURITY.
B. PEACE and AUTONOMY.
C. EXCITEMENT and CELEBRATION.
2.
In Magic: The Gathering, when you play the card Duress, you get to _____.
A. attack one of your opponent's creatures
B. cast a powerful counterspell against your opponent
C. force your opponent to discard an item of your choice
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Our word duress looks like during, duration, durable, and endure because they all trace back to the Latin durus, meaning "hard."
"Duress" comes from a Latin word for "hard." In English, it's taken on lots of meanings over the years, like "roughness," "hardship," and "oppression."
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, serious, semi-common word "duress" when you want to emphasize how someone can't really be held responsible for their actions--because they performed them while obeying someone who could seriously harm them.
"You gave the Beiderman cookies. From your own personal stash. Willingly. Not under duress."
Explain the meaning of "duress" without saying "threat" or "force."
A writer for Slate noted:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |