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Pang vs Discomfort - What's the difference?

pang | discomfort | Related terms |

Pang is a related term of discomfort.


As a noun discomfort is

mental or bodily distress.

As a verb discomfort is

to cause annoyance or distress to.

pang

English

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (often, pluralized) paroxysm of extreme physical pain or anguish; sudden and transitory agony; throe
  • * 1591 , , Henry VI, Part II , act 3, sc. 3,
  • See, how the pangs of death do make him grin!
  • * 1888 , , "The Nightingale and the Rose" in The Happy Prince and Other Tales ,
  • So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and the thorn touched her heart, and a fierce pang of pain shot through her.
  • (often, pluralized) A sharp, sudden feeling of a mental or emotional nature, as of joy or sorrow
  • * 1867 , , The Guardian Angel , ch. 7,
  • He was startled with a piece of information which gave him such an exquisite pang of delight that he could hardly keep the usual quiet of his demeanor.

    Verb

  • to torment; to torture; to cause to have great pain or suffering
  • * 1918 , , "On Unanswering Letters" in Mince Pie ,
  • It panged him so to say good-bye when he had to leave.

    discomfort

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Mental or bodily distress.
  • Something that disturbs one’s comfort; an annoyance.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cause annoyance or distress to.
  • (obsolete) To discourage; to deject.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His funeral shall not be in our camp, / Lest it discomfort us.

    Usage notes

    As a verb, the unrelated term discomfit is often used instead, largely interchangeably, though this is proscribed by some as an error, (term) originally meaning “destroy”, not “distress”.

    Derived terms

    * discomforter

    See also

    * discomfit