These words all denote suffering of body or mind. The suffering may be the result of some injurious external interference, as a wound, bruise, harsh word, etc. it may arise from an abnormality in bodily or mental functions, as disease, envy or discontent. It may be occasioned by the lack of something one needs, as food or love.

Misery refers to a chronic or prolonged suffering, whether physical, mental or emotional. There is a suggestion of hopelessness about this word: the misery of the arthritic. Distress is too strong a word for little hurts, too feeble for the most intense suffering. It is applied more often than not to mental state, referring to any deep anxiety or the external circumstances that may produce it. Very commonly it applies to some prolonged trouble, as does misery , but distress more than misery implies at least a possibility of relief: the distress of an underprivileged child. Discomfort is the mildest of the words in this group, denoting little more than the absence of well-being and ease: the discomfort of a hot, humid day.

Agony , anguish , torment and torture all refer to intense suffering of body or mind. Agony and torture are perhaps most closely associated with physical pain. Agony represents suffering, the endurance of which calls forth every human resource. Its severity is of such extent that the word is often used to denote the struggle and pain that may precede death: In his final agony he called for the religious comfort which he had rejected for years. Torture puts great stress upon the agent which causes or inflicts it: Nazi madmen who indulged in the torture of their victims before they killed them; the recurrent torture of migraine. Torment and anguish suggest mental suffering. Torment hints at repeated or continuous instances of attack: the torment of an alcoholic husband. Anguish points to the extremity of grief which so terrifies the spirit as to be insupportable: the anguish she knew when her husband and three children were burnt to death; anguish so great that it turned into madness.

Passion , in the sense being compared here, is now limited to the New Testament account of the anguish and agony of Jesus Christ which culminated in his crucifixion.