trouble
Americanverb (used with object)
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troubles,
present (3rd person singular)
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troubled,
past participle, past
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troubling
present participle
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to disturb the mental calm and contentment of; worry; distress; agitate.
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to put to inconvenience, exertion, pains, or the like.
May I trouble you to shut the door?
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to cause bodily pain, discomfort, or disorder to; afflict.
to be troubled by arthritis.
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to annoy, vex, or bother.
Don't trouble her with petty complaints now.
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to disturb, agitate, or stir up so as to make turbid, as water or wine.
A heavy gale troubled the ocean waters.
verb (used without object)
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troubles,
present (3rd person singular)
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troubled,
past participle, past
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troubling
present participle
-
to put oneself to inconvenience, extra effort, or the like.
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to be distressed or agitated mentally; worry.
She always troubled over her son's solitariness.
noun
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troubles
plural
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difficulty, annoyance, or harassment.
It would be no trouble at all to advise you.
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unfortunate or distressing position, circumstance, or occurrence; misfortune.
Financial trouble may threaten security.
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civil disorder, disturbance, or conflict.
political trouble in the new republic; labor troubles.
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a physical disorder, disease, ailment, etc.; ill health.
heart trouble; stomach trouble.
-
mental or emotional disturbance or distress; worry.
Trouble and woe were her lot in life.
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an instance of this.
some secret trouble weighing on his mind; a mother who shares all her children's troubles.
-
effort, exertion, or pains in doing something; inconvenience endured in accomplishing some action, deed, etc..
The results were worth the trouble it took.
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an objectionable feature; problem; drawback.
The trouble with your proposal is that it would be too costly to implement.
- Synonyms:
- tribulation, trial, misfortune, affliction
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something or someone that is a cause or source of disturbance, distress, annoyance, etc.
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a personal habit or trait that is a disadvantage or a cause of mental distress.
His greatest trouble is oversensitivity.
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the Troubles,
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the violence and civil war in Ireland, 1920–22.
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the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, beginning in 1969.
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idioms
noun
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a state or condition of mental distress or anxiety
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a state or condition of disorder or unrest
industrial trouble
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a condition of disease, pain, or malfunctioning
she has liver trouble
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a cause of distress, disturbance, or pain; problem
what is the trouble?
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effort or exertion taken to do something
he took a lot of trouble over this design
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liability to suffer punishment or misfortune (esp in the phrase be in trouble )
he's in trouble with the police
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a personal quality that is regarded as a weakness, handicap, or cause of annoyance
his trouble is that he's too soft
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(plural)
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political unrest or public disturbances
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political violence in Ireland during the 1920s or in Northern Ireland between the late 1960s and the late 1990s
-
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the condition of an unmarried girl who becomes pregnant (esp in the phrase in trouble )
verb
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(tr) to cause trouble to; upset, pain, or worry
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to put oneself to inconvenience; be concerned
don't trouble about me
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(intr; usually with a negative) to take pains; exert oneself
please don't trouble to write everything down
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(tr) to cause inconvenience or discomfort to
does this noise trouble you?
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(tr; usually passive) to agitate or make rough
the seas were troubled
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(tr) to interfere with
he wouldn't like anyone to trouble his new bicycle
Synonym Usage
See care.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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troublednessnoun
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troublernoun
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overtroubleverb
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nontroublingadjective
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self-troubledadjective
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self-troublingadjective
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troubledadjective
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untroubledadjective
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troubledlyadverb
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troublinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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troublesimple
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troublessimple
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have troubledperfect
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has troubledperfect
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am troublingprogressive
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are troublingprogressive
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is troublingprogressive
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have been troublingperfect progressive
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has been troublingperfect progressive
Past
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troubledsimple
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had troubledperfect
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was troublingprogressive
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were troublingprogressive
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had been troublingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trouble
First recorded in 1175–1225; (for the verb) Middle English troublen, from Old French troubler, from Vulgar Latin turbulāre (unrecorded), derivative of turbulus (unrecorded) “turbid,” back formation from Latin turbulentus “restless, unruly”; noun derivative of the verb; see turbulent
Explanation
Trouble is anything that causes difficulty, worry, and inconvenience, or that prevents you from doing something. If you have trouble getting along with a classmate, it is hard to be friendly with him or her. Whether you have trouble finding your shoes, you're in trouble with your teacher, or you go to a lot of trouble buying the kind of tea your sister likes, you face an annoying — and possibly distressing — difficulty. When you use trouble as a verb, it tells who or what is making life hard for you, like a headache that troubles you or childhood memories of encounters with scary clowns that probably trouble you even more deeply.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If so, he is courting trouble at home and abroad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Experts warned that despite Carney's message of unity, there may be trouble ahead.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
The trouble is that private-equity-owned insurers get much of their access to these loans through affiliated issuers.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
So it is possible that viewers of illicit material just might one day find themselves in expensive legal trouble.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
“I said he was trouble and a heartbreaker.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Ahead of that, we take you inside the streaming giant’s year of mounting troubles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Puerto focuses on a more common scenario: As documented in “The Turnaway Study,” people who seek and are denied abortions are likely to struggle with poverty, debt, underemployment, and troubles with physical and mental health.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
If you find yourself with money troubles, it can be tempting to seize any opportunity to get things back on track.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The Spanish economist and author Daniel Lacalle, in a recent conversation with MarketWatch, says France – along with the U.K. and Japan – are the countries whose financial troubles could spill across the borders.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
Fly away from here, away from you, away from all the troubles of this life!
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
"My work, my profits and my workforce have all been cut in half," he told AFP, adding that he was deeply troubled by the fear and family separations caused by immigration enforcement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
People across France were shocked and troubled by Saturday's events.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
In an interview, Denise and Jeffrey’s father, Halford Fairchild, acknowledged that Jeffrey led a troubled life, shuffling in and out of jail on a variety of charges and convictions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
A disease that has troubled white button mushroom growers for more than 100 years is far more complicated than scientists previously believed.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
By 1600 William Gilbert could complain that intellectuals were expected to navigate ‘so vast an Ocean of Books by which the minds of studious men are troubled and fatigued’.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
But what we saw in the briefing room this week was far more troubling than one woman falling on her face.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
Despite the troubling rise in stroke cases, the findings also offered some encouraging news.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
“This whole idea that people aren’t allowed to mourn or remember is really troubling to me,” she said.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
“We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the dog’s owner and to everyone affected by this deeply troubling situation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Citra’s investigation was troubling, yet try as he might, Rowan could not find a single instance since he’d been in Goddard’s presence where Goddard did anything that was illegal by scythe law.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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