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
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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.
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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.
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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:
And unlike the bank-draining, generative AI-boosted rip-offs of 2026, you did actually get something for your trouble.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
They were never in trouble last season, but I am expecting more of a struggle this time.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
"I can't do nothing," said the man who, despite his sturdy build, had trouble speaking.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
An updated dashboard from Azhar and research analyst Nathan Warren shows how their gauges look now versus a year ago — trouble for the AI boom is looming if two gauges are in the red.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
“There is talk of trouble in the fields.”
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Paramount, in a statement, said the report highlighted the industry’s troubles and made a case for the merger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
It is easy to regard a former child star’s troubles as an inevitability of the profession.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Punctuation troubles our notions of control and authority,” she warns, “of identity both individual and collective.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
What troubles Howell is that central banks have been relying on issuance of bonds at the short end of the curve, buybacks and money market liquidity to maintain long-term yields.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
She was staring at his feet, and could see the tattooed eye that had been watching the Baudelaire orphans since their troubles had begun.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing,’ Rory Kennedy’s look at the aviation giant’s troubled recent history, is a dissection of corporate greed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Microsoft boss troubled by rise in reports of 'AI psychosis'
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Hayden Panettiere, the former child actor who became a household name as an indestructible cheerleader on “Heroes” before starring as a troubled country singer on “Nashville,” has died.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
The transaction also comes after a troubled first half for the lender, including a federal investigation into its asset-pricing practices reported in May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Leah’s attempt to take Kate’s sons away drove a stake into the heart of the Fox sisters’ already troubled relationships.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Lurking in the background, though, is a more troubling possibility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
While it’s nice to have flexible payment options, the reason consumers use them can be troubling.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Analysts warned the prospect of a prolonged spike in crude was troubling traders.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
With the recent release of her new music video for “Petal,” those messages intensified to establish a troubling refrain: “Is Ariana Grande OK?”
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
“If there is anything troubling you,” he said finally, “you know you can come and tell me about it. I hope you feel you can always do that.”
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
