as in harassment
the act of making unwelcome intrusions upon another
one more bothering, and I'm going to kick you out of here
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in fearing
to experience concern or anxiety
just get the basic concept right and don't bother about the details
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in distracting
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
the boss's cryptic message about changes to the company bothered me
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bothering
Kevin B. Smith, The Conversation, 2 Mar. 2026
Stop bothering me with things that don’t make sense.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026
One Florida resident reportedly hired a local mover without bothering to determine if the company was licensed, only to run into a boatload of trouble.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
If your knee is bothering you, for instance, the vibration might distract your brain enough for the pain to temporarily retreat.
—Jennifer Heimlich, Time, 23 Jan. 2026
Is a man bothering you at a bar?
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 23 Jan. 2026
If the plaintiff can get the information from, say, an SEC filing, then the plaintiff must go that route instead of bothering the speaker.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
Try taking just 10 or 15 minutes at the same time each day to write out what's bothering you.
—Andee Tagle, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
My stomach has been bothering me all day.
—Dave Skretta, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2026
Verb
Mass incarceration has led to a fast-growing bloc of citizens who either are legally barred from voting or have just stopped bothering.
—Kevin B. Smith, The Conversation, 2 Mar. 2026
Stop bothering me with things that don’t make sense.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026
One Florida resident reportedly hired a local mover without bothering to determine if the company was licensed, only to run into a boatload of trouble.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
If your knee is bothering you, for instance, the vibration might distract your brain enough for the pain to temporarily retreat.
—Jennifer Heimlich, Time, 23 Jan. 2026
Is a man bothering you at a bar?
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 23 Jan. 2026
If the plaintiff can get the information from, say, an SEC filing, then the plaintiff must go that route instead of bothering the speaker.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026
Try taking just 10 or 15 minutes at the same time each day to write out what's bothering you.
—Andee Tagle, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
My stomach has been bothering me all day.
—Dave Skretta, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bothering
Noun
-
The trolling and harassment members of our community have endured in the past few days has been horrific.—
K.J. Yossman,
Variety,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Roughly a quarter of trans and nonbinary people who have not updated their identification documents experience subsequent mistreatment when showing their IDs, including verbal harassment, assault and denial of services or access to settings.—
Noelle Martin,
The Conversation,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Nothing’s worse than worrying about an overly revealing neckline or an itchy zipper midway through dinner.—
Malia Griggs,
Glamour,
3 Mar. 2026
-
The Spurs are worrying about problems like this in the immediate, while the Bulls are far off from worrying about game-plan intricacies determining their success.—
Joel Lorenzi,
New York Times,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
And also, Bill has to be home and also not bugging me.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Clara could hear Dune’s sister, Fern, in the background bugging Dune to resume their chess game.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With a smooth leather fabric lining, a vachetta leather strap, and the brand’s signature denim logo print, its pattern makes a statement without distracting from your outfit.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Balances were a recurrent problem in the Prokofiev, and, with big and often distracting gestures, Kavakos didn’t always keep up with the soloist, the DSO’s excellent concertmaster, Alexander Kerr.—
Scott Cantrell,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Meanwhile, the reinforcement learning system was trained using hundreds of millions of simulated disturbances in a virtual environment.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Mar. 2026
-
In contrast, several weather disturbances will induce considerable cloud cover primarily over the central and eastern states.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Sometimes, rage bait can be relatively harmless – a recipe that contains disgusting food combinations or someone annoying their pet, partner or sibling.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
1 Dec. 2025
-
But what’s been annoying me even more is that these women should have been trained by producers to start recording on their own cell phones if drama starts to unfold after cameras go down.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
12 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Wear gloves to avoid irritating your skin.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
28 Feb. 2026
-
The Seminole-Palm Harbor contest got a bit dicey in the second half, with questionable calls irritating players, coaches and fans, most notably on the Seminole side.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Minutes before the 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School, administrators and officers went to intercept a freshman student named Colt Gray, whose concerning comments that morning had raised several red flags.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
28 Feb. 2026
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Liverpool had raced into a 3-0 first-half lead but showed concerning vulnerability in defence all game, and were ultimately grateful to a late Axel Disasi own goal to settle their nerves.—
Tom Burrows,
New York Times,
28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bothering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bothering. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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