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exasperation

nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Exasperation is the worn-out irritation of dealing with something impossible. Past annoyance, and not quite anger.

The exhaustion is what defines it, since exasperation arrives after repeated failure rather than after one offence. It appears in sighing with exasperation and in exasperation as a phrase meaning because there was nothing else left. The verb exasperate is what the situation does to you. Frustration is the near synonym and is about being blocked rather than about being worn down.

Definitions of exasperation

  1. 1nounexasperationWeary irritation after repeated failure or annoyance.C2

    “He threw the manual down in sheer exasperation.”

Also accepted in games: frustration

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 13 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

exasperation in the wild

  • Oy vey is a Yiddish phrase expressing dismay or exasperation.

    Oy vey

  • The gesture is found in many cultures as a display of frustration, disappointment, exasperation, embarrassment, horror, shock, surprise, exhaustion, sarcasm, shame, or incredulous disbelief.

    Facepalm

  • Meanings range from sincerity to exasperation, and are primarily imparted through context and tone.

    Bless your heart

  • "Gordon Bennett" is an English-language idiomatic phrase used to express surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, frustration or exasperation.

    Gordon Bennett (phrase)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.