adj. causing an emotional disturbance; "his disconcerting habit of greeting friends ferociously and strangers charmingly"- Herb Caen; "an upsetting experience"

adj. extremely painful

adj. causing fear or dread or terror; "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"

adj. extremely irritating to the nerves; "nerve-racking noise"; "the stressful days before a war"; "a trying day at the office"

adj. causing misery or pain or distress; "it was a sore trial to him"; "the painful process of growing up"

adj. extremely annoying or displeasing; "his cavelier curtness of manner was exasperating"; "I've had an exasperating day"; "her infuriating indifference"; "the ceaseless tumult of the jukebox was maddening"

adj. disagreeable to the sense