bothering 1 of 2

noun

as in harassment
the act of making unwelcome intrusions upon another one more bothering, and I'm going to kick you out of here

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bothering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of bother
1
as in worrying
to thrust oneself upon (another) without invitation I am never going to get this work done if people don't stop wandering into the room and bothering me

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bugging
to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts it bothers me when obviously sick people go to movies and spend the whole time coughing and sneezing

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3
as in fearing
to experience concern or anxiety just get the basic concept right and don't bother about the details

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4
as in distracting
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy the boss's cryptic message about changes to the company bothered me

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bothering
Verb
For example, companies that benefit from customers not bothering to cancel subscriptions, compare prices, or search for better deals have taken a beating in recent weeks. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026 If neck pain keeps coming back or the lines bothering you keep getting deeper, talk with a doctor or dermatologist instead of relying on a gadget alone. — Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026 Heat, gentle pressure and rhythmic massage can simply feel good, whether your neck is bothering you or not. — Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026 Lane Kiffin will stroll off the LSU bus later this afternoon, acting as if none of the noise is bothering him. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026 The injury was something that had been bothering Smith throughout training camp, but the decision to get surgery wasn’t made until recently. — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Sep. 2026 The list of maladies bothering Ohtani is lengthy, and grew this week. — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Ohtani reported that the area from his biceps to his neck was bothering him Wednesday night, Roberts said. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Something at home could be bothering you more than you’d like to admit, perhaps a tense family dynamic or the fact that your apartment is a literal mess. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bothering
  1. harassment
  2. worrying
  3. bugging
  4. distracting
  5. disturbance
  6. pestering
  7. annoying
  8. concerning
Noun
  • The law only became deployed as a vehicle for students to pursue claims of violence or harassment against other students in the 2000s, Armstrong said.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Three freshman Missouri Tigers football players, including two from the Kansas City metro area, were arrested Monday in Columbia on charges of suspicion of first-degree harassment.
    — PJ Green October 7, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of harassment
Verb
  • With early voting already underway, a question worrying some voters is what role — if any — immigration enforcement officers might have at polling places through Election Day.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Cloud computing let businesses add capacity without worrying much about what sat behind it.
    — Anthony Milewski, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of worrying
Verb
  • However, in-flight cabin etiquette is only one part of what’s bugging travelers this summer.
    — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The necessity of the trip at all is what's been bugging me.
    — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 12 June 2026
Definition of bugging
Verb
  • Maybe his conning can be curtailed someday, but the thought there’d ever be enough distracting chaos for a similarly lengthy follow-up is almost too much to bear.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The text was crisp and easy to read, the matte display minimized distracting reflections, and the ink paper mode made reading comfortable.
    — Kimberly Gedeon, PC Magazine, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of distracting
Noun
  • While all of Saturday will be dry, skies will trend partly to mostly cloudy as the cloud shield with Isaias and an upper-level disturbance spread into the region.
    — Trey Fulbright, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Officers arrived after a disturbance between two neighbors escalated to one man shooting another, police said.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of disturbance
Verb
  • Children became the sales force, pestering their parents for the latest product.
    — Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
  • In the clip shared on social media, the bird appears poised to go after a second player before veering off at the last moment, then continues pestering several others on the field until the referee is forced to pause the game.
    — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of pestering
Verb
  • Kids in all three countries loved learning dances from TikTok and annoying their siblings.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Of course, this would depend on whether the managers choose to pick their strongest teams in what for some is a meaningless, even annoying extra fixture, for squads who just want to go home.
    — Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 18 July 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • The Mipcom presentation follows a May ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court concerning the game’s intellectual property rights.
    — Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Those admissions could become important evidence in Pulido’s prosecution, although the allegations concerning him have not been tested in court.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of concerning

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Cite this Entry

“Bothering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bothering. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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