vexing
Americanadjective
-
irritating, provoking, or annoying.
Automatic file recovery reintroduced errors already corrected at the proofing stage—which was very vexing.
-
tormenting, troubling, or distressing.
She came to see racism as her country's most vexing problem.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vexing
Explanation
Anything vexing is bothersome or annoying. The noise of a car alarm is extremely vexing to everyone around. To be vexed is to be irritated or exasperated, so anything vexing creates irritation or exasperation. A splitting headache is vexing. A talkative neighbor can be vexing. Filling out a form is usually vexing. If you're trying to get somewhere and there's traffic, that's a vexing situation. Unfortunately, life is full of vexing situations.
Vocabulary lists containing vexing
Chains
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The Remains of the Day
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This Week In Culture: Current Events Vocab for September 12–18, 2020
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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.
Vexing and humor deficient as the current season is relative to the previous, there's enough going for it to make it worthwhile to ride out the slack, beyond any completist urges.
From Salon • Jan. 10, 2021
Vexing: No one has found anyone or anything “vexing” since Mr. Rochester bedeviled young Jane Eyre.
From Washington Post • May 4, 2018
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.
From Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature by Bartlett, John
"Tedious as a twice-told tale, Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man."
From Mr. Punch in Bohemia by Various
Vexing enough; but not so bad as all that, I hope.
From A Siren by Trollope, Thomas Adolphus
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.
