vex
/vɛks/ verb, noun
- verb (transitive) To annoy, irritate. “Billy's professor was vexed by his continued failure to improve his grades.”
- verb (transitive) To cause (mental) suffering to; to distress.
- verb (transitive, now rare) To trouble aggressively, to harass.
- verb (transitive, rare) To twist, to weave.
- verb (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.
- verb (transitive) To toss back and forth; to agitate; to disquiet.
- noun (Scotland, obsolete) A trouble.
Synonyms
agitate irk irritate aggravate annoy nettle rankle ruffle sting burn someone's ass antagonize bother disgruntle botherate bug get grate burn up bedevil acerbate rag get to get at rile nark gravel chafe devil worry disturb
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English vexen, from Old French vexer, from Latin vexāre (“disturb, agitate, annoy”). Displaced native Old English dreċċan and gremman.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To to White curl the waves, and the vexed ocean roars. Pope.
- verb To make angry or annoyed by little provocations; to irritate; to plague; to torment; to harass; to afflict; to trouble; to tease. "I will not vex your souls." Shak.
- verb To be irritated; to fret. [R.] Chapman.
Etymology [F. vexer, L. vexare, vexatum, to vex, originally, to shake, toss, in carrying, v. intens. fr. vehere, vectum, to carry. See Vehicle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vex”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details