This feminine noun appears in a crisis oracle repeated identically in both 2 Kings and Isaiah. Hezekiah's officials quote it to Isaiah, describing Jerusalem's desperate situation as 'a day of distress, rebuke, and contempt.' The term captures the shame and disgrace that accompany divine judgment—not merely physical suffering but the humiliation of being scorned and despised. It reflects the Ancient Near Eastern sense of honor and shame, where loss of standing equals existential crisis.