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

After another frustrating series loss, pressure continues to mount on the front office to find upgrades capable of jump-starting a lineup with postseason aspirations. — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

What's perhaps most frustrating is that this could have been a fine movie without Bourdain at its center at all. — ABC News, 29 July 2026

What made the night especially frustrating for San Francisco (45-62) is that Milwaukee didn’t power its way to those eight runs. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 29 July 2026

But the more important — and frustrating — reality is that prediabetes and type 2 diabetes often produce no noticeable symptoms at all. — Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 29 July 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