bother

American  

[both-er] / ˈbɒð ər /

verb (used with object)

1. to annoy; give trouble to; pester.

   His little sister kept bothering him for candy.

2. to cause unease, anxiety, or worry in (someone).

   I hadn't realized how much being in a small boat bothers me until we got into choppy waters.

   Synonyms:

   disturb, molest, irritate, vex, harass

3. to bewilder; confuse.

   His inability to understand the joke bothered him.

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verb (used without object)

1. to take the trouble; trouble or inconvenience oneself.

   Don't bother to call. He has no time to bother with trifles.

noun

1. something troublesome, burdensome, or annoying.

   Doing the laundry every week can be a terrible bother.

2. effort, work, or worry.

   Gardening takes more bother than it's worth.

3. a worried or perplexed state.

   Don't get into such a bother about small matters.

4. someone or something that bothers or annoys.

   My cousin is a perpetual bother to me.

interjection

1. Chiefly British. (used to express mild irritation.)

bother British  

/ ˈbɒðə /

verb

1. (tr) to give annoyance, pain, or trouble to; irritate

   his bad leg is bothering him again

2. (tr) to trouble (a person) by repeatedly disturbing; pester

   stop bothering your father!

3. (intr) to take the time or trouble; concern oneself

   don't bother to come with me

4. (tr) to make (a person) alarmed or confused

   the thought of her husband's return clearly bothered her

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noun

1. a state of worry, trouble, or confusion

2. a person or thing that causes fuss, trouble, or annoyance

3. informal a disturbance or fight; trouble (esp in the phrase a spot of bother )

interjection

1. an exclamation of slight annoyance

Related Words

Bother, annoy, plague, tease imply persistent interference with one's comfort or peace of mind. Bother suggests causing trouble or weariness or repeatedly interrupting in the midst of pressing duties. To annoy is to vex or irritate by bothering. Plague is a strong word, connoting unremitting annoyance and harassment. To tease is to provoke or irritate persistently with petty distractions.

Other Word Forms

• unbothered adjective
• unbothering adjective

Etymology

Origin of bother

First recorded in 1710–20; origin obscure; originally Hiberno-English; perhaps a hypercorrection of bodder, an alternative early form; perhaps a variant of pother ( def. )

Explanation

The word bother has many shades of meaning, but most of them involve trouble of some sort. You might wonder why you should bother to follow a recipe, until you taste what you've made without one. As a verb, bother can mean that you take the trouble to do something. It’s often presented as a negative: you might not bother to lock the house, or you may wonder why you should bother reading the instructions that came with your phone. Bother can also mean that you’re bugging someone or causing a minor inconvenience. The word can also have a sense of deeper worry, especially when something is bothering you, like a nagging sense of guilt.

Example Sentences

We live in a world where people don’t even bother to look out the window in the morning before picking up their phones, ready to get online and join in whatever discourse the day’s generating.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026

And they might not bother to look back.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

The weight of expectation began to bother McIlroy, not only when he made the annual pilgrimage to Augusta National, but at all of the majors.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Instead of thinking, Why bother?, they think, This could be worth it.

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026

I ice my shin and do my physical therapy stretches when Mom reminds me to, but otherwise, I don’t bother.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

• aggravate
• alarm
• bore
• disgust
• dismay
• disturb
• embarrass
• exacerbate
• hinder
• hurt
• irk
• irritate
• nag
• perplex
• perturb
• plague
• scare
• torment
• trouble
• upset