Synonyms of galling

galling 1 of 2

adjective

ˈgȯ-liŋ 

1

as in frustrating

causing annoyance

her holier-than-thou attitude is galling

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• delightful
• pleasing

2

as in painful

hard to accept or bear especially emotionally

losing in the last round of play-offs was galling to our home team

Synonyms & Similar Words

• painful
• harsh
• cruel
• torturous
• bitter
• agonizing
• terrible
• excruciating
• horrible
• hurtful
• severe
• grievous
• harrowing
• unacceptable
• awful
• afflicting
• unbearable
• tormenting
• heartrending
• dreadful
• intolerable
• appalling
• insufferable
• insupportable
• bad
• unendurable
• vile
• miserable
• dire
• extreme
• ghastly
• intense
• acute
• wretched
• rotten
• nasty
• unsupportable
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gratifying
• pleasing
• sweet
• tolerable
• bearable
• endurable
• sustainable
• supportable
• acceptable
• reasonable
• allowable
• survivable
• livable
• sufferable

galling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of gall

1

as in eroding

to damage or diminish by continued friction

move that rope so the sharp edge of the hull doesn't gall it

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

2

as in annoying

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

humming through your nose like that absolutely galls me

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

3

as in irritating

to make sore by continued rubbing

tie your shoes so they don't gall your heels sliding on and off like that

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of galling

Adjective

What was particularly galling, according to sources at the meeting, was the plan for the building’s union employees. — Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026

More galling to Bonta is that what was discussed at that meeting slipped out into the public sphere. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026

Verb

There’s no getting around paying taxes, but there’s something galling about paying for the privilege. — Brian Sloan,dan Avery, CNBC, 24 Mar. 2026

Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri found the trauma plot especially galling in FNAF2, since that’s what every horror movie is about nowadays. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2025