Nearby Words
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | aggravate; rub the wrong way |
| Synonyms: | abrade, annoy, bother, bug*, discommode, disturb, eat*, fret, gall, get on nerves, get to, give a hard time, harass, incommode, inconvenience, irritate, make waves, miff, nettle, peeve, provoke, put out, rasp, rile, ruffle, trouble, vex |
| Antonyms: | delight, please |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | aggravate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | annoy |
| Synonyms: | be at, be on the back of, bother, bug, bum*, dog, drive up the wall, exasperate, gall, get, get on one's nerves, get to, give a hard time, grate, hack, irk, irritate, nag, needle, nettle, peeve, pester, pick on, pique, provoke, tease, vex, wig |
| Notes: | to aggravate is to make something worse, while to exacerbate is to increase something's bitterness or harshness aggravate means 'to add to' an already troublesome or vexing matter or condition while irritate means 'to vex, annoy, or chafe' irritate means 'inflame' (originally 'excite, rouse'); aggravate means 'worsen' |
| Antonyms: | appease, gladden, make happy, mollify, soften |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | annoy |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | irritate, upset |
| Synonyms: | T-off, abrade, agitate, ask for it, badger, be at, be on the back of, bedevil, beleaguer, bore, bother, break, bug, burn up, chafe, displease, distress, disturb, egg on, exasperate, fire up, gall, get, gnaw, harass, harry, heat up, henpeck, hit where one lives, irk, madden, make waves, miff, nag, needle, nettle, nudge, peeve, perturb, pester, plague, provoke, push button, ride, rile, ruffle, tease, tick off, trouble, turn off, vex, work on, worry |
| Antonyms: | aid, gratify, make happy, please, soothe |
| Main Entry: | bait |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | needle |
| Synonyms: | anger, annoy, badger, bother, gall, harass, heckle, hound, irk, irritate, nag, persecute, provoke, tease, torment |
| Main Entry: | bore |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cause weariness, disinterest |
| Synonyms: | afflict, annoy, be tedious, bend one's ear, bother, burn out, cloy, discomfort, drag, exhaust, fatigue, irk, irritate, jade, pall, pester, put to sleep, send to sleep, talk one's ear off, tire, trouble, turn one off, vex, wear, wear out, weary, worry |
| Notes: | a boar is a male pig; a boor is a person with rude, clumsy manners and little refinement; a bore is one that is wearingly dull, repetitive, or tedious |
| Antonyms: | amuse, charm, excite, interest, please |
| Main Entry: | bother |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | harass, annoy; give trouble |
| Synonyms: | afflict, aggravate, agitate, alarm, badger, bedevil, bore, browbeat, carp at, concern, cross, discommode, disconcert, disgust, dismay, displease, disquiet, distress, disturb, eat, embarrass, exacerbate, exasperate, goad, grate on, grieve, harry, hinder, hurt, impede, inconvenience, insult, intrude upon, irk, irritate, molest, nag, needle, nudge, pain, perplex, perturb, pester, pick on, plague, provoke, pursue, put out, ride, scare, spite, tantalize, taunt, tease, torment, trouble, upset, vex, worry |
| Antonyms: | aid, help, please |
| Main Entry: | bug |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | bother, disturb |
| Synonyms: | abrade, annoy, badger, chafe, gall, get on someone, harass, irk, irritate, needle, nettle, pester, plague, provoke, vex |
| Notes: | a bug is a particular kind of insect, specifically belonging to the order Hemiptera (tough leathery forewings attached to the body - like ladybugs, beetles) while insects generally belong to the class Insecta, which have bodies in three segments, usually two pairs or wings and three pairs of legs (like bees, mosquitoes); spiders are not technically insects because they have four pairs of legs insect (from Latin animal insectum) literally meant 'divided animal' or 'cut up or into' from the segments of its body (head, thorax, abdomen) - the common word being 'bug'; insect is any of an extremely large group of small invertebrate animals - and most undergo metamorphosis while bug denotes a special group of insects with beaklike sucking mouth parts and partly membranous forewings |
| Antonyms: | not bother |
| Main Entry: | chafe |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | annoy |
| Synonyms: | abrade, anger, annoy, bother, exasperate, exercise, fret, fume, gall, grate, harass, incense, inflame, irk, irritate, itch, offend, provoke, rage, rasp, rub, ruffle, scrape, scratch, vex, worry |
| Notes: | to chafe means to rub until sore or worn; to chaff means to tease good-naturedly |
| Antonyms: | make happy |
| Main Entry: | chagrin |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cause displeasure |
| Synonyms: | abash, annoy, confuse, crush, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, disgrace, dismay, displease, disquiet, dissatisfy, embarrass, humiliate, irk, irritate, mortify, peeve, perturb, shame, upset, vex |
| Antonyms: | delight, make happy, please |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
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Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
