exasperating

adjective

ex·​as·​per·​at·​ing ig-ˈza-spə-ˌrā-tiŋ 

: causing strong feelings of irritation or annoyance

an exasperating delay

After the most frustrating, aggravating and exasperating two days of his career …

—Jack Curry

The following days brought light fluky winds and I made only 35 miles of progress in two days. It was very exasperating.

—Tom Peterson

exasperatingly adverb

an exasperatingly slow process

The heater warmed up slowly; its temperature was exasperatingly difficult to adjust.

—Consumer Reports

Synonyms

• abrasive
• aggravating
• annoying
• bothersome
• carking
• chafing
• disturbing
• frustrating
• galling
• irksome
• irritating
• maddening
• nettlesome
• nettling
• peeving
• pesky
• pestiferous
• pestilent
• pestilential
• pesty
• plaguey
• plaguy
• rankling
• rebarbative
• riling
• vexatious
• vexing

Examples of exasperating in a Sentence

those exasperating details that come with almost any job

Recent Examples on the Web

This unnerving alternation is almost more exasperating than the person being consistently one way or the other. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024

An exasperating offseason could be on the horizon for Cleveland fans. —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 16 Dec. 2024

The exasperating drop-off in performance and results against sides they have been expected to overcome risked becoming a concerning, harmful trend. —Chris Waugh, The Athletic, 16 Dec. 2024

This was exasperating for innovators and investors and created unnecessary hurdles before new technologies could get to market. —IEEE Spectrum, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined above