plight

A dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation.

• (no common derivatives)

• dire plight
• plight of refugees
• plight of the poor
• highlight the plight
• desperate plight

1. 1.The documentary highlighted the plight of farmers struggling with drought and debt. (difficult situation)
2. 2.International attention has been drawn to the plight of political prisoners in the country. (suffering)

• predicament/prɪˈdɪkəmənt/— a difficult situation
• dilemma/dɪˈlɛmə/— a situation with two difficult choices
• hardship/ˈhɑːrdʃɪp/— severe suffering or deprivation

from Old French "plite" (condition, state) — originally neutral, but shifted to mean specifically a bad condition