The biological concept of "stress", set out in the works of G. Selye, created an entire scientific direction. She has played and continues to play a major role in the development of biomedical research. Scientific progress leads to filling the term "stress" with new biological content at different levels of study. At the same time, unjustified expansion often leads to a blurring of the concept, clogging with "cryptic" terms that complicate the understanding of the phenomenon. The purpose of the work is to discuss some points that complicate or distort the scientific content of the term "stress". From a genetic point of view, it is proposed to consider the phenomenon as a condition that occurs when the body is unable to adapt within the limits of its "reaction norm", determined by the genotype.