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

The merged generative AI model is bloated and runs extremely slowly, possibly so piggish that using it on everyday tasks is exasperating and imprudent due to enormous delays while processing. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024

United kicked off an exasperating 4-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night at Audi Field. —Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 23 June 2024

In a season already full of frustration and inconsistency, Kiké Hernández suffered another exasperating low Friday night. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024

Traveling with one of them is military captain Matthew Van Weyden (Luke Wilson), who lands the exasperating job of de facto leader, dealing with disputes and ensuring that everyone contributes to the workload. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined above