frustrating

adjective

frus·​trat·​ing ˈfrə-ˌstrā-tiŋ 

: causing feelings of anger and annoyance : tending to produce or characterized by frustration

a frustrating delay

a very frustrating experience

Mischel concludes that having the willpower to wait isn't about being stoic. It's about learning techniques that make waiting less frustrating.

—Pamela Druckerman

frustratingly adverb

a frustratingly slow process

The book is sprawling and self-indulgent. Most frustratingly, it is almost entirely devoid of serious military analysis.

—Hew Strachan

Synonyms of frustrating

• annoying
• irritating
• disturbing

Examples of frustrating in a Sentence

All these delays have been very frustrating.

these daily traffic jams are frustrating

Recent Examples on the Web

Employing a fictional slasher movie of yesteryear as the portal into a conversation about self and desire, this is heady, strange stuff, frustrating at times but captivating in both its confusion and its honesty. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026

Witt is pacing toward a historic, never-seen-it-before season — for all the right individual reasons, but for all the frustrating organizational reasons. —Sam McDowell May 22, Kansas City Star, 22 May 2026

Zero Parades can be a frustrating game now and again. —Alex James Kane, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026

And what is extremely frustrating is that money will come for a response. —Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for frustrating

• abating
• awaiting
• berating
• castrating
• chelating
• collating
• conflating
• creating
• debating
• deflating
• derating
• dictating

Kids Definition

frustrating

adjective

: producing frustration

a frustrating delay

frustratingly adverb