frustration
noun
Simple meaning
A feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fruhstrayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
fɹəstˈɹeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized
“Her constant complaints were the main source of his frustration.”
The feeling of annoyance at impossibility from resistance or inability to achieve something.
The act of frustrating, or the state, or an instance of being frustrated.
Anger not directed at anything or anyone in particular.
A thing that frustrates.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized
Used this way, frustration is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
“Her constant complaints were the main source of his frustration.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use frustration
- “Her constant complaints were the main source of his frustration.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- angernoun
- disappointmentnoun
- desirenoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.