requiring more than usually expected or thought due; especially great patience and effort and skill; "found the job very demanding"; "a baby can be so demanding"
the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"
(physics) force that produces strain on a physical body; "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area"
difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; "she endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger"- R.J.Samuelson
special emphasis attached to something; "the stress was more on accuracy than on speed"
put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"
to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet"
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance; "a dour, self-sacrificing life"; "a forbidding scowl"; "a grim man loving duty more than humanity"; "undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw"- J.M.Barrie
impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason; "he is adamant in his refusal to change his mind"; "Cynthia was inexorable; she would have none of him"- W.Churchill; "an intransigent conservative opposed to every liberal tendency"
guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics"
unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack
inspiring fear; "the formidable prospect of major surgery"; "a tougher and more redoubtable adversary than the heel-clicking, jackbooted fanatic"- G.H.Johnston; "something unnerving and prisonlike about high grey wall"
extremely impressive in strength or excellence; "a formidable opponent"; "the challenge was formidable"; "had a formidable array of compositions to his credit"; "the formidable army of brains at the Prime Minister's disposal"
an effort that is inconvenient; "I went to a lot of trouble"; "he won without any trouble"; "had difficulty walking"; "finished the test only with great difficulty"
a source of difficulty; "one trouble after another delayed the job"; "what's the problem?"
an event causing distress or pain; "what is the trouble?"; "heart trouble"
an unwanted pregnancy; "he got several girls in trouble"
to cause inconvenience or discomfort to; "Sorry to trouble you, but..."