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

So, shopping can get frustrating. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 5 Dec. 2025

But for anyone who sifts through huge quantities of television, The Abandons embodies everything that’s frustrating about the medium right now. —Judy Berman, Time, 4 Dec. 2025

Very frustrating for the president. —Dana Taylor, USA Today, 4 Dec. 2025

This whole boring, eventless, frustrating episode can be summed up by what happened at the immunity challenge. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2025

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