Synonyms of chafing

chafing 1 of 2

adjective

as in irritating

causing annoyance

learned to ignore those chafing comments that his mother-in-law was constantly making

Synonyms & Similar Words

• irritating
• annoying
• frustrating
• disturbing
• aggravating
• irksome
• painful
• vexing
• maddening
• exasperating
• bothersome
• pesky
• abrasive
• galling
• vexatious
• pestilential
• nettlesome
• rankling
• nettling
• pestiferous
• carking
• plaguy
• peeving
• plaguey
• rebarbative
• riling
• pesty
• pestilent
• distractive
• biting
• troubling
• troublesome
• discomforting
• infuriating
• stressful
• distressing
• displeasing
• burdensome
• importunate
• disquieting
• mischievous
• tiresome
• upsetting
• offensive
• inconveniencing
• trying
• worrisome
• enraging
• angering
• jarring
• importune
• thorny
• grating
• brattish
• bratty
• spiny
• jangling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• delightful
• pleasing

chafing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of chafe

1

as in scratching

to make sore by continued rubbing

ill-fitting boots that had badly chafed my heels

Synonyms & Similar Words

• irritating
• scratching
• scraping
• fretting
• galling
• abrading
• excoriating
• burning
• peeling
• grazing
• inflaming
• skinning
• enflaming
• flaying

2

as in wearing

to damage or diminish by continued friction

constant stepping on a rope will gradually chafe it, rendering it unsafe for rock climbing

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wearing
• eroding
• fraying
• rubbing
• reducing
• shaving
• galling
• fretting
• abrading
• biting
• scraping
• eating
• rasping
• gnawing
• erasing
• sharpening
• corrading
• filing
• scuffing
• chewing
• frazzling
• grazing
• nibbling
• scouring
• corroding
• grating
• sandpapering
• sandblasting
• wiping (away)
• disintegrating
• grinding
• wearing out
• decomposing
• dissolving
• honing
• whetting
• rubbing out
• breaking down
• breaking up

3

as in annoying

to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts

nothing chafes us so much as those telemarketers who call during the dinner hour

Synonyms & Similar Words

• annoying
• irritating
• bothering
• bugging
• persecuting
• aggravating
• itching
• getting
• eating
• griping
• irking
• exasperating
• nettling
• galling
• vexing
• worrying
• grating
• burning (up)
• ruffling
• infuriating
• riling
• spiting
• teasing
• angering
• rasping
• getting to
• peeving
• plaguing
• frosting
• narking
• hacking (off)
• wearing on
• provoking
• putting out
• piquing
• insulting
• nagging
• rubbing the wrong way
• sticking in one's craw
• harassing
• heckling
• offending
• getting on one's nerves
• hassling
• inflaming
• upsetting
• getting one's goat
• setting one's teeth on edge
• enraging
• rousing
• distressing
• rankling
• badgering
• agitating
• discomforting
• harrying
• enflaming
• pestering
• fretting
• maddening
• exercising
• antagonizing
• incensing
• roiling
• unsettling
• baiting
• disquieting
• undoing
• outraging
• affronting
• perturbing
• devilling
• bullyragging
• ballyragging
• unhinging
• deviling
• hagriding
• miffing
• freaking (out)
• discomposing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appeasing
• placating
• obliging
• pacifying
• satisfying
• gratifying
• conciliating
• pleasing
• delighting
• mollifying
• cheering
• assuring
• comforting
• propitiating
• reassuring
• soothing
• consoling
• quieting
• contenting
• gladdening
• solacing