adj
Meaning 1
Ineffectual; useless; fruitless.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
frustrate
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /fɹʌˈstɹeɪt/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: /ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/
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rhymes with (UK) -eɪt
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CMU ARPABET: F R AH1 S T R EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To disappoint or defeat; to vex by depriving of something expected or desired.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- It frustrates me to do all this work and then lose it all.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To hinder or thwart.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- My clumsy fingers frustrate my typing efforts.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: behedge, blunt, crimp, delay, difficult, diminish, forestay, interfere, intervene, forslow, frustrate, get in the way, hamper, handicap, hinder, hold up, hurt, impair, impede, incommode, lessen, let, mar, obstruct, overslaugh, preclude, prevene, prevent, prohibit, reduce, restrict, retard, slow down, stay, stymie, thwart, thwarten, umbeset, undermine, weaken, worsen
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To cause stress or annoyance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- This test frustrates me because if I fail, it'll destroy my grade.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, bother, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, hassle, irk, irritate, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, trouble, try one's patience, vex, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, chap someone's hide, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
treat cruelly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The children tormented the stuttering teacher
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke
Narrower terms: madden, hamstring, tease, badger, pester, bug, beleaguer, persecute, oppress
verb
Meaning 6
hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge
- foil your opponent
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: thwart, queer, spoil, scotch, foil, cross, baffle, bilk
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: prevent, forestall, foreclose, preclude, forbid
Narrower terms: disappoint, let down, dash, short-circuit, ruin
History
Etymology
From Middle English frustrat (“prevented, disappointed, rendered useless”, adjective as well as past participle of frustraten (see Etymology 1)), from Latin frūstrātus, perfect passive participle of frūstrō (“to deceive”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
From Middle English frustraten (“to prevent, disappoint, render useless”), from Latin frūstrātus, perfect passive participle of frūstrō (“to deceive”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French frustrer.
Across languages
Translations
59 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: тщетен (tšteten) — ineffectual, useless
- Chinese Mandarin: 無效的 /无效的 (wúxiào de) — ineffectual, useless
- Chinese Mandarin: 無用的 /无用的 (wúyòng de) — ineffectual, useless
- Chinese Mandarin: 徒勞無功的 /徒劳无功的 (túláowúgōng de) — ineffectual, useless
- Finnish: turha — ineffectual, useless
- Finnish: hyödytön — ineffectual, useless
- Finnish: hedelmätön — ineffectual, useless
- Russian: тщетный (tščetnyj) — ineffectual, useless
- Belarusian: расчароўваць (rasčarówvacʹ) — to disappoint or defeat
- Bulgarian: разочаровам (razočarovam) — to disappoint or defeat
- Catalan: frustrar — to disappoint or defeat
- Chinese Mandarin: 令人失望 (lìngrén shīwàng) — to disappoint or defeat
- Chinese Mandarin: 挫折 (cuòzhé) — to disappoint or defeat
- Chinese Mandarin: 使期望落空 (shǐ qīwàng luòkōng) — to disappoint or defeat
- Dutch: frustreren — to disappoint or defeat
- Esperanto: frustri — to disappoint or defeat
- Finnish: turhauttaa — to disappoint or defeat
- Finnish: lannistaa — to disappoint or defeat
- French: frustrer — to disappoint or defeat
- German: frustrieren — to disappoint or defeat
- Greek: ματαιώνω (mataióno) — to disappoint or defeat
- Ancient Greek: ἐκκρούω (ekkroúō) — to disappoint or defeat
- Hebrew: תִּסְכֵּל — to disappoint or defeat
- Māori: whakahēmanawa — to disappoint or defeat
- Polish: frustrować — to disappoint or defeat
- Polish: sfrustrować — to disappoint or defeat
- Portuguese: frustrar — to disappoint or defeat
- Russian: разочаровывать (razočarovyvatʹ) — to disappoint or defeat
- Russian: обламывать (oblamyvatʹ) — to disappoint or defeat
- Russian: расстраивать (rasstraivatʹ) — to disappoint or defeat
- Serbo-Croatian: frustrírati — to disappoint or defeat
- Spanish: frustrar — to disappoint or defeat
- Arabic: فَشَّلَ (faššala) — to hinder
- Bulgarian: осуетявам (osuetjavam) — to hinder
- Bulgarian: възпрепятствам (vǎzprepjatstvam) — to hinder
- Chinese Mandarin: 阻礙 /阻碍 (zǔ'ài) — to hinder
- Chinese Mandarin: 妨礙 /妨碍 (fáng'ài) — to hinder
- Chinese Mandarin: 阻撓 /阻挠 (zǔnáo) — to hinder
- Dutch: frustreren — to hinder
- Finnish: tehdä tyhjäksi — to hinder
- Finnish: estää — to hinder
- Finnish: vaikeuttaa — to hinder
- Finnish: haitata — to hinder
- Finnish: olla tiellä — to hinder
- Finnish: hidastaa — to hinder
- Greek: ματαιώνω (mataióno) — to hinder
- Ancient Greek: ἐκκρούω (ekkroúō) — to hinder
- Māori: whakakōpekapeka — to hinder
- Māori: whakapōnānā — to hinder
- Māori: whakataunahua — to hinder
- Polish: krzyżować plany — to hinder
- Polish: pokrzyżować plany — to hinder
- Russian: мешать (mešatʹ) — to hinder
- Russian: препятствовать (prepjatstvovatʹ) — to hinder
- Chinese Mandarin: 造成壓力 /造成压力 (zàochéng yālì) — cause annoyance
- Chinese Mandarin: 令人煩惱 /令人烦恼 (lìngrén fánnǎo) — cause annoyance
- Chinese Mandarin: 惹惱 /惹恼 (rěnǎo) — cause annoyance
- Esperanto: ĉagreni — cause annoyance
- Finnish: hermostuttaa — cause annoyance