vexing

[vek-sing]

adjective

1. irritating, provoking, or annoying.

   Automatic file recovery reintroduced errors already corrected at the proofing stage—which was very vexing.

2. tormenting, troubling, or distressing.

   She came to see racism as her country's most vexing problem.

Other Word Forms

• vexingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of vexing¹

vex ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

And this habit of blaming the three Incorrigible children for all sorts of things that were simply not their fault—at least, not entirely—was vexing, to say the least.

Read more on Literature

What to do about vegetation like shrubs, plants and grasses within the first 5 feet of homes has proved more vexing.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“The best way to solve the vexing problems of poverty, racism, and disinvestment is not by providing market-based microsolutions,” she pointed out.

Read more on Salon

For Chung, the struggle to get in Washington’s good graces is personally vexing as Korea tries to finalize a trade deal that would ease the pain of U.S. tariffs.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But in these vexing and highly contentious times it surely is.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alarming 
• annoying 
• bothersome 
• creepy 
• depressing 
• disconcerting 
• discouraging www.thesaurus.com
• distressing www.thesaurus.com
• embarrassing www.thesaurus.com
• frightening www.thesaurus.com
• irritating 
• ominous 
• painful 
• perplexing 
• sinister 
• startling 
• threatening 
• troublesome 
• troubling www.thesaurus.com
• unpleasant