adjective
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causing a great deal of trouble; worrying, upsetting, or annoying
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characterized by violence; turbulent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of troublesome
Explanation
If something is troublesome, it annoys you or gives you difficulty. Your troublesome old car, for example, might be unreliable and have a history of breaking down at the most inconvenient moments. Use the adjective troublesome to describe things — or people — that are worrisome or inconvenient. A troublesome stomach virus will keep you home from work, and a troublesome teenager is a constant source of anxiety and frustration for his parents. The word troublesome adds the suffix some, "tending to or causing," to trouble, which has a Latin Latin root, turbidare, "make trouble or make turbid." Turbid, by the way, means "muddy or full of confusion."
Vocabulary lists containing troublesome
Similes from Top AP English Exam Novels
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
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Sounder
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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.
“They don’t call it Troublesome Creek for nothing.”
From Washington Post • Aug. 3, 2022
A home flooded by water from Troublesome Creek in Breathitt County.
From New York Times • Jul. 31, 2022
As crews piled sodden debris on mud-caked sidewalks, a flood-tossed car could be seen upside down in nearby Troublesome Creek, which had returned to its banks after inundating the town.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 31, 2022
I wanted to understand that, so I called Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy, whose 2002 book, “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word” examines the word’s endurance and the shifting boundaries on its use.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2022
Troublesome as she was, though, Margaret Weylin had mellowed.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
