vexation

American  

[vek-say-shuhn] / vɛkˈseɪ ʃən /

noun

• vexations
  plural

1. 

   the act of vexing.

2. the state of being vexed; irritation; annoyance.

   vexation at missing the bus.

3. something that vexes; a cause of annoyance; nuisance.

   Rush-hour traffic is a daily vexation.

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vexation British  

/ vɛkˈseɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of vexing or the state of being vexed

2. something that vexes

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-vexation
  noun
• supervexation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vexations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vexation

1350–1400; Middle English vexacioun < Latin vexātiōn- (stem of vexātiō ), equivalent to vexāt ( us ) (past participle of vexāre to vex; see -ate ¹) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Vexation is both something that causes annoyance and the state of mind that results from being annoyed. The test-taker next to you tapping her pencil is a vexation. You breaking her pencil in half makes her feel vexation. Vexation can also refer to something that causes anxiety and worry more than annoyance. When the parents of the kid you're babysitting are two hours late to return and aren’t answering their phones, that could be a vexation. You are less annoyed than worried. (Though, to be honest, you're still a little annoyed).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vexation vexations

McMurtry’s stark assessment grew in part from a vexation that, despite his lifelong project to demythologize the cowboy, the ultimate American icon, his most celebrated book had the inverse effect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

"You might be feeling a familiar vexation at the sight of these two formerly innocuous numerals," Dictionary.com said, addressing parents as it announced the winner this week.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025

Strange, too, that so few books deal substantively with a near-universal vexation, by which I mean the tax system.

From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2024

These “scenes from country life,” as the play is subtitled, are full of vexation, longing, frustration and endless complaints of boredom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

I think she was frightened, but she frequently brought up her vexation with Mama Mwanza, who had spoken so matter-of-factly about having a strong husband at home.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Ahead of Sunday’s election for a new parliament and government, those vexations are being heard again as the European Union country’s two main parties, the center-left Socialists and the center-right Social Democrats, compete for power.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2022

By now, the litany of vexations is well known: the jammed phone lines, the hours on hold, the online system that balks and crashes, the inexplicable responses to re-file and then re-file again.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 17, 2020

The gamesome yet secretive daughter of a famous writer, she studies history, informed by a postmodern suspicion of “truth” that winks at coming narrative vexations.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 15, 2019

For more than 50 years, beginning in 1946, Mr. Modell’s moon-faced characters leapt from The New Yorker’s pages in a perpetual state of exasperation or pandemonium, evoking for readers their everyday vexations.

From New York Times ● May 29, 2016

I have, after innumerable vexations, agreed with three houses, which are well esteemed here, to open a loan.

From The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution (Volume VI) by Various