Distressing

adj. troubling, worrying, saddening

v. upset, sadden, trouble, grieve; make a piece of furniture appear old, antique (by denting, scratching, painting, etc.)

Distressing in the decorative arts is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, and there are many methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. Distressing is viewed as a refinishing technique although it is the opposite of finishing in a traditional sense. In distressing, the object's finish is intentionally destroyed or manipulated to look less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or paint stripper. For example, the artisan often removes some but not all of the paint, leaving proof of several layers of paint speckled over wood grain underneath. This becomes the "finished" piece.
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Adjective
1. causing distress or worry or anxiety; "distressing (or disturbing) news"; "lived in heroic if something distressful isolation"; "a disturbing amount of crime"; "a revelation that was most perturbing"; "a new and troubling thought"; "in a particularly worrisome predicament"; "a worrying situation"; "a worrying time"
(synonym) distressful, disturbing, perturbing, troubling, worrisome, worrying
(similar) heavy
2. bad; unfortunate; "my finances were in a deplorable state"; "a lamentable decision"; "her clothes were in sad shape"; "a sorry state of affairs"
(synonym) deplorable, lamentable, pitiful, sad, sorry
(similar) bad

Noun
1. psychological suffering; "the death of his wife caused him great distress"
(synonym) hurt, suffering
(hypernym) pain, painfulness
(hyponym) anguish, torment, torture
2. a state of adversity (danger or affliction or need); "a ship in distress"; "she was the classic maiden in distress"
(hypernym) adversity, hardship, hard knocks
(hyponym) anguish
3. extreme physical pain; "the patient appeared to be in distress"
(hypernym) pain, hurting
4. the seizure and holding of property as security for payment of a debt or satisfaction of a claim; "Originally distress was a landloard's remedy against a tenant for unpaid rents or property damage but now the landlord is given a landlord's lien"
(synonym) distraint
(hypernym) seizure
Verb
1. cause mental pain to; "The news of her child's illness distressed the mother"
(hypernym) disturb, upset, trouble
(hyponym) besiege
(derivation) hurt, suffering

(p. pr. & vb. n.)
of Distress
  

(adv.)
In a distressing manner.
  

(a.)
Causing distress; painful; unpleasant.
  

Synonyms and related words:
acute, affecting, afflictive, agonizing, annoying, atrocious, baleful, baneful, biting, bitter, bleak, bothersome, calamitous, chafing, cheerless, comfortless, corroding, corrosive, corrupting, corruptive, counterproductive, cramping, cruel, damaging, deadly, deleterious, deplorable, depressing, depressive, detrimental, dire, disadvantageous, discomforting, dismal, dismaying, disquieting, disserviceable, distressful, disturbing, dolorific, dolorogenic, dolorous, dreary, excruciating, fretting, gnawing, grave, grievous, griping, harassing, hard, harmful, harrowing, harsh, heartbreaking, hurtful, hurting, injurious, joyless, lamentable, lethal, malefic, malevolent, malign, malignant, mischievous, mournful, moving, noisome, noxious, ominous, painful, paroxysmal, pathetic, pernicious, piercing, piteous, pitiable, plaguing, poignant, poisonous, prejudicial, pungent, racking, regrettable, rueful, sad, saddening, scatheful, severe, sharp, shooting, sore, sorrowful, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, stabbing, stinging, tormenting, torturous, touching, toxic, troublesome, uncomfortable, unfortunate, upsetting, venenate, veneniferous, venenous, venomous, vicious, virulent, woebegone, woeful, worrisome, worrying, wretched,